New beginnings
by A.C. Castle
Summary: Roy is dead and Kate has to get away from everything for the summer. How is Castle going to handle that? And will the new captain be as supportive of the partnership as Roy was? Rated T just to be safe! AU now,since i started this 2 weeks b4 the finale
1. Changes

**Hello again! first of all... Happy castle day! **

**2nd, this is my first multi-chapter. I've written almost all of chapter 2 and i will try to update ASAP but since I start classes again tomorrow... we'll see :3 also.. reviews make me write faster ;D *hint hint***

**3th, This is set after the season finale, i've not seen tonight ep but let's assume nothing of great caskett importance happens there... and by that i mean kisses and whatnot, bonding is obvious. **

**Also... i'm not a native English speaker and i don't have a beta so... forgive all the mistakes :D **

**Disclaimer: no, i don't own castle... ok? ok... **

**Happy reading! :3 ...**

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><p>Roy was gone. He died trying to save her and now he was gone. He had a family; wife, kids, a life, and now because of her…It had been too much. Yes, they had solved her mom's murder; the DPD had been involved, the commissionaire, even some FBI agents. But at the cost of Roy's life it seemed not worth it. Now someone they've never met was going to be the new captain. She had been offered the job but she couldn't take it, didn't feel right.<p>

After meeting the new captain she was going to take all those sick days and vacations and drive up north where her father had a cabin. She needed space and time to think.

It had been a week since his death and the new guy was due to arrive any second now. She was nervous, biting her lower lip and playing with her fingers. "Hey, are you ok?" – Her partner asked in a soft voice, worry all over his face – "Yeah, just, you know" – she offered a little smile, a nervous one – "The new boss is going to be here any second, right?" she nodded and continued to bit her lip. He placed his hand over hers and squeezed it reassuringly, she tensed for a split second before squeezing back – "I'm here if you need to talk, ok?" – He said with a sweet smile on his face – "I know".

Exactly five minutes later, on which he was still holding her hand, someone walked out of the elevator. It was a woman, early 60's, red hair, blue eyes, good figure for her age, kind face. Beckett let go of Castle's hand and got up to receive the new boss.

"Captain …"

"Detective Becket, if I'm not mistaken" – she said, smiling politely while shaking Kate's hand.

"Yes, madam, it's nice to meet you. This is my partner, Rick Castle" – she said, sensing Castle behind her.

"Mr. Castle, I'm Mary Lisbon. I've heard many things about you"

"Good things, I hope"

"Mostly" – she answered with a genuine smile.

They shook hands while Esposito and Ryan came to greet the new boss. After all the introductions were made she went to her office. Roy's old office. This was going to be hard.

The day went by with no new cases, at lunch Kate decided that it would be the perfect time to tell Castle about her plans for the summer. She knew he would try to stop her, but she needed this. Three months would be hell without him, especially after everything that happened last week, but the space would be good for them. It would give them perspective and time to heal.

They were at Remy's, their usual table, she was mostly quiet, thinking, and it was freaking Castle up.

"So, What do you think of Lisbon? She seemed nice enough"

"Uh? Sure" – she said, absent minded.

"Kate. Are you ok?" – His voice was full of concern, his eyes almost sad; she noticed when she looked up to him.

Taking a deep breath she put her thoughts in order.

"Castle, look, I know we've been through a lot, especially after this past two weeks. Losing Roy…" – she felt a lump in her throat but kept going – "What I'm trying to say is that I'm going away for the summer"

After a brief pause he asked the thing that could possibly shattered his heart to pieces.

"Oh, have you told Josh? Are you going with him?" – His voice was almost a whisper, trying not to think of last summer, but failing miserably. She saw the hurt on his features and decided it was time to tell him.

"No, we…I broke up with him after our trip to LA" – she said, softly.

"I'm sorry. You ok?" – He asked, tempting fate by placing his hand on hers and squeezing lightly before retrieving it.

"Yeah, you know that I told you that, when he stayed we had another chance?" – He just nodded – "Well, he might as well have gone to Haiti at the time. I've seen your mother more that I saw him after the whole bomb fiasco thing" – at that his jaw clenched and his knuckles turned white at the force of his fists. That idiot, he had hurt her, his Kate. Ok, not his, yet, but still. His face was red from anger and, of course, she noticed.

"Castle? What?"

Her voice calmed him down enough for him to talk.

"I'm sorry, it's just… I hate that guy! Hurting you like that…"

Could he _be_ any sweeter? She thought

She chuckled a little, making him open his eyes a little in shock – "it is ok, Castle, but thank you for caring, it's sweet of you"

"Always, Kate, you know that" – he said, smiling a bit she smiled back.

After a moment of silence Rick spoke again.

"So, this trip…Are you going anywhere in particular?" – He asked, being his cheering normal self again.

"Up north, my dad has a cabin somewhere in Silver Creek, Minnesota"

"Are you going with Mr. Beckett?"

She laughed again, a bit louder than usual, which made him smile.

"Mr. Beckett? What are we? 12?"

"Just being polite, Becket"

"Of course, what was I thinking?" – She said, smiling.

"No, I'm going alone"

At this, his face grew serious again. He didn't want her being alone, not after everything.

"Are you sure? Don't get me wrong, I know you want your space but…"

"But, what? Castle"

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to be alone right now"

"I know, I figured as much, but I need to think things, and for that I can't have you or anybody around"

He sighed. She was right, as usual, but there was a part of him that wanted to offer going with her.

"When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow, I'm going to talk to Lisbon today. I think I have up to 3 months on sick days and vacations stored up."

He felt like he was just kicked on the stomach. Tomorrow? Less than 24 hours and he wouldn't see her for 3 months? No way.

"Tomorrow? So… sudden"

"Yes, well, I've been thinking about it for a couple of days. You're the first one I tell, besides my dad"

He felt a little honored by that piece of information.

"Well, I can't say that I'm thrilled that you're going alone for three months to a cabin, but I understand the reasons. Still, I'm one call away if you need me. A few hours by plane at most"

"I can take care of myself, Castle, I'm a big girl"

"Oh, detective, I know that – he said, grinning like the Cheshire cat, causing an eye roll from Kate – I'm just saying…"

"I know"

…..

After finishing their lunch they went back to the precinct. Beckett went directly towards Lisbon's office, leaving Castle to play with the boys, and knocked gently. After entering she waited while Lisbon finished with a phone call.

"Detective, what can I do for you?"

"Well, I was going to ask you for vacations. I know I shouldn't, given that you've just arrived and all but…"

"It's been difficult for you, I know, and I understand. You know, I've read your file. Very impressive, I must say. And I know you have at least 5 months worth of vacation time and sick days, but I can't let you take that much time"

"I understand. Actually, I was thinking more on the lines of 2 or 3 months"

"Go ahead. Is your partner going with you?"

"Castle? Oh, no. I think he is going to shadow the boys while I'm gone"

"I'm sorry, Detective, but I can't allow that"

"What? Why?" – She asked, surprised

"The mayor gave me strict orders, Richard Castle does all the research he wants but by shadowing you. If you're not here than he isn't either"

"But, he has proven to be a great help on our cases. He shouldn't suffer because I need time off" – at this moment she was feeling a bit angry at Lisbon for being such a pain in the ass.

"You should've thought of that. I think I'm being incredibly patient with the whole writer as a partner thing. I don't like it, but I have orders and I intent to keep them. None of which says that he can follow everyone he likes out of such called research" – Her voice was cold and angry

"Now, when are you leaving?" – She said, calming down.

"Tomorrow morning" – Kate answered quietly, still too shocked to do anything else

"Ok, I guess I'll see you in 3 months. Have a good trip, Detective"- she said, smiling.

And with that the meeting was over and Kate left feeling even worse. Could she lose Castle as a partner? No, he meant too much to her. He is the best partner she could ask for, even better than Royce. She had to make Castle understand that he couldn't be with the boys for the summer.

The three of them were goofing around on Esposito's desk watching Ryan playing something on Castle's Iphone, Angry birds most likely; they had _the_ obsession with that thing.

"Boys, could you lend me Castle for a while?" – the only response was from Esposito waving a hand dismissively and Castle slightly looking at her for a split second before going back to the game. She sighed. "Oh Castle, do you want to know more about my tattoo?" – She whispered in his ear, in a seductive voice that got Castle's attention in record time.

"Wh-What?" – His jaw was practically on the floor, all coherent thoughts gone from his brain.

"You're so easy! Come on. I need to talk to you"

"Such a tease, Beckett"

"You love it"

"That, I do" – he said, big grin plastered on his face

Giving him one of the famous Beckett eye rolls she walked to the break room, Castle not too far behind her. Once there, they sat on the couch and Rick patiently waited for her to start talking.

"You can't shadow the boys while I'm gone" – she said almost too fast for him to understand. She wasn't meeting his eyes.

"Why?" – His voice sounded hurt, she still couldn't look him in the eyes.

She explained what Lisbon told her earlier and he just listened. After finishing she finally looked and her heart sank. The look of his eyes seemed like those of a lost puppy's searching for his owner. Silence filled the room.

"And to think that I was inviting her to poker night with the boys" – he said, trying to lighten to mood.

"I can't say I blame her, she doesn't know you, Castle. She is just following orders and a writer following a cop is not exactly safe"

"But, I help!" – He responded, whining, looking like a 4 year old.

"She doesn't know that"

"Wait, Are you willingly accepting that I help?" – He asked with a big smile.

"No. That is beside the point" – she said, trying to contain a smile.

"Look, you need to stay clear from the precinct until I get back, do you hear me? She will have you stop shadowing me if we don't follow her orders to the letter"

He couldn't believe it! She was actually concerned! She wanted him to be his partner. Sure, she had said before that she was used to him pulling her pigtails but this was different. And as a bonus she wasn't with that so called human being, _Josh. _Maybe there was hope for a 'them' in the future, maybe even after this summer. If he were the Grinch, his heart would have just grown like 20 times its size.

"Ok, I promise I won't stop by until you are back. But I will invite the boys for Halo night, and when you get back Lisbon will learn to like me"

"That is right, she doesn't like you. Maybe your charm is wearing off; shouldn't you be worry, Castle?" - She said, grinning.

"Oh, ha ha, Detective. Just so you know, my charm is just fine, I could prove it to you if you think you could handle it" – he responded while wiggling his eyebrows.

"Down, boy, save it for Lisbon. Now I'm going packing. So, if you excuse me" – she said, getting up, but he stopped her by grabbing her wrist.

"I don't think so, Detective"

"Excuse me?" – she asked, her tone a little more hard that intended to.

"If I'm not going to see you for the next three months then I'm going to cook you dinner tonight, my place, or yours if you think it's more comfortable"

"Castle…"

"Come on, Kate, I'm not going to see you for 3 months, at least you could let me cook you dinner. Please? – His puppy dog eyes were at full power.

"Ok, fine. Come by at 6 so I have time to pack. And nothing too elaborate, ok?"

"Your wish is my command, my lady"

"Suuuure. Bye, Castle"

"Until tonight, Becket"

And with that she left for the day, keeping true to his word he left a few minutes later after saying good bye to the boys and the new boss. He had dinner plans to make.

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><p>Reviews are love! please tell me if i should continue this or forget about it!<p>

and again Happy Castle day to all :D


	2. Thoughts & dinner

**A/N: I'm so grateful for the response so far! I'm doing a happy dance every time a story alert or favorite shows up on my email! And almost faint if it's a review! So here it's chapter 2 as promised! I'll try to update ch. 3 tomorrow but since I'll be in classes since 7 til 6 I won't make promises!...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own castle! Just the two books a poster and a notebook that just got in the mail (does a happy dance)**

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><p>Kate did not go to her apartment after saying good bye to everyone, she went to the morgue.<p>

"Lanie?"

"Hey, girl. Spill, how is the new boss?"

"Nice to see you too, how'd have you been? I'm fine, Thank you" – she said with a mocking voice.

Lanie rolled her eyes very Beckett style - "I've been fine. Now, details" – she said with an exasperated voice.

Kate told her best friend about Lisbon, the warning about Castle, leaving for three months and finally, really fast, her dinner plans for that night. At which point Lanie's jaw was on the floor and her eyes out of their sockets.

"Wait a second, you're leaving for three months AND having a date with Castle, and I'm hearing all of this a few hours before the event? I'm gonna smack you, girl!"

"Ok, first, it's not a date…

"Keep telling yourself that, you might believe it" – Lanie interrupted while crossing her arms on her chest

"And second – Kate continued after glaring Lanie – I haven't told anyone, except Castle and my dad"

"And of course, you had to tell castle first because you have no feelings for the guy"

"He is my partner, Lanie, of course I had to tell him first"

"Riiiiight. Be in denial if you want, maybe the three months apart will knock some sense into you"

"Whatever you say"

"Girl, look, you now I love you and all but this is ridiculous. It's obvious you at least like the guy and he is in love with you. Plus, you are not with Josh anymore. I don't get what is getting in the way"

Kate was quiet for a minute or two, analyzing the words of her friend. What was getting in the way? He was her partner, her friend, she couldn't risk that, not for a romance that may or may not last. Plus, he wasn't in love with her, no way. But she was in love with him. She knew, for a while, it was one of the reasons of her break up with Josh. It wasn't fair to any of them and she hadn't lie to Rick – 'Castle! Not Rick, Castle!,' she yelled at herself – they hadn't seen each other often enough.

Kate sighed loudly. She couldn't lie to Lanie, she owned her that much.

"Fear"

"What?"

"it's what's in the way, fear. I'm afraid of losing my partner if things go south. I love him and…What if he doesn't love me back? Or just sees me as a friend? It's too much of a risk, Lanie"

"Oh, honey, come here"

She hugged Kate and looked at her straight in the eyes

"Now you listen to me Beckett. That man loves you, it's obvious to everyone. You need to be the one who takes that step. He won't, he is too scared to lose you if he pushes you. If you're not ready now, I understand but he won't wait forever. There is only so much a person can take before the pain is too great, and you now that."

"You're right. I… I'll see what to tell him over dinner tonight"

"That's my girl. Now go, you have to pack and I have plans in a few"

"Ok, thanks Lanie, and tell Esposito hi for me" – she said smiling

"No problem" – Lanie answered with a huge grin

…

On the other side of town, Rick Castle; master of the macabre, best seller novelist and plucky sidekick extraordinaire was going crazy. On one hand he was happy that he was making dinner for Kate, on the other, well, he wasn't going to see her for three months, _months_. Why this did always happened in the summer? When he was a kid, summer was the best time for him, no school and a lot of time to write, read and chase after girls. Now, well, now he was beginning to hate the summer. There was always something that kept them for being together those months.

Tonight was his only chance to let her know how she felt without being too obvious. So, details. He was very good with details, those were important for his books, and he knew this dinner couldn't be romantic in the traditional way but he would show her that he cared. It was all in the details.

He thought about what to do for dinner, she said nothing too complicated and she loved this pasta a la carbonara with a smooth red wine, her favorite meal. For dessert he would make brownies and buy some ice cream.

He must've been too out to notice a certain red haired girl walking into the kitchen where he was and didn't notice the playful smile on her face when she spoke.

"Oh, father…" – she said in a sing song voice.

Nothing… Ok, this was going to take some extreme actions.

She went to his side quietly and began to talk to him.

"Hey, dad, so… I was thinking of marrying Ash tomorrow, because, well, I'm pregnant and all…So, is that…"

She never got to finish because a very shocked Castle quickly turned his head to face her with a terrified look on his face.

"Wha-What did you just say?"

His voice was a few octaves too high.

"Finally, I got your attention" – she said, grinning like crazy

"Oh, you're mean. You almost gave your old man a heart attack" – he said as he placed a hand on his chest, breathing heavily, causing Alexis to roll her eyes.

"Tell me, father, what were you thinking that caused you to black out from the world?" – She asked while smiling knowingly.

"Uh, well, Detective Beckett is going away for the summer, tomorrow, so I offered to make her dinner tonight. I was thinking of what to cook for her, and well…"

"Say no more, want help?"

"Thank you pumpkin, I would love some help" – he said as he kissed her temple gently and pulled her in for quick a hug.

"So, what are we making?"

"Her favorite, Carbonara and I'm baking some brownies for dessert"

"You are _making_ the brownies?" – She asked, quite shocked, eyebrows rose.

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh dad, you're so in love with her" – she said, giggling.

"What makes you say that?" – His voice went up an octave.

"You're baking brownies for her, dad, you never do that. And shadowing her when you have more than enough research, risking your life for her, staying late at the precinct just to make sure she leaves, making sure she eats and has her coffee every morning. Should I go on?"

Alexis was grinning and Castle was baffled.

"I…I…well…How did you become so observant?"

"I'm a girl; we have a six sense for this kind of stuff. So, are you going to tell her tonight?"

"No? I'm going to wait until the moment is right. We…She has been through a lot with the captain, and her mom's case solved. I don't want to overwhelm her…"

"You're right. Just, don't wait too long, ok? She may meet someone, again"

"Ok, pumpkin, I won't. Now, help me with the carbonara sauce, will ya?"

They began cooking and baking, but Rick's mind was on the last thing his daughter had said. She might meet someone. He couldn't watch another Josh or Demming on Kate's life again, it hurts too much. He had to know where they stood, if there was a chance for a 'them' somewhere in the future so he could move on with his life if he had to. He didn't want to. Couldn't imagine his life without Kate, but he couldn't imagine watching her going off to the sunset on another man's arms.

Once everything was set he said good bye to Alexis and went to Beckett's apartment. He texted Kate to make sure he was cleared for landing.

"Hello my lady, Is your castle up for visitors on this fine evening? ;)"

A few minutes later a message appeared on his phone:

"A Castle? Really?"

"Too much? =("

"To say the least"

"Sorry. So, dinner is ready, can I come over?"

"Sure, I'm done packing anyway and it's almost 6"

Five seconds later the bell ringed. 'No way' she thought. Sure thing, when she opened the door there was a writer on the other end, with bags on one hand and his cell phone on the other.

"Castle?"

"Were you expecting anyone else?" he said with a grin

"I thought you were at your loft"

"Well, I was, but I was ready and didn't want the food to get cold. But I thought it would be better if I texted to see if it was ok for me to stop by earlier"

After a beat of Beckett just staring at him, he spoke:

"Kate?"

"Uhm?"

"Can I come in? It's kind of heavy" he said gesturing the bag.

"Oh yeah, sure, you know where the kitchen is"

She stepped out of the way and he went straight to the kitchen. Now that she was not in shock at his latest surprise she noticed him, like really noticed, and liked what she saw. He was wearing jeans and a long sleeve, V neck, dark blue sweater with a white t-shirt underneath. The color brought his eyes and he looked very handsome. 'No! Kate, don't think like that about him, not yet' She thought.

When Rick saw Kate he stopped thinking. She looked amazing and she wasn't even wearing something extravagant. Dark blue jeans and a V-neck, long sleeve, hazel blouse. Very casual but elegant, her hair was lose and her soft curls felt perfectly on her shoulders. Yes, she was the most beautiful woman on earth.

Now that he was in the kitchen taking the containers from the bag he had time to think his next move. He needed her to know how he felt and if she felt the same. He could wait for her over the summer but what if she came back with another Josh? No way. If she didn't feel the same he had to know so he could move on over the summer. Yes, he would still be her plucky side-kick even she turned him down. A friendship was better than nothing. And her happiness was the priority here.

The only problem was...he didn't know how to approach the topic without sending Beckett running for the hills. Well, honesty was the best politic, he would just say it, but after dinner. Yes, after dinner. A voice that sounded very similar to Esposito (what the hell?) echoed in his head "Coward" but before he could argue with said voice another one outside his head talked to him.

"Castle, hello, earth to castle"

"Wh-what?" – He said dumbfounded

"I asked what did you brought. What were you thinking?"

"Oh, nothing, just crept out cuz apparently my subconscious has Esposito's voice"

After a 'what on earth are you talking about' look from Beckett she decided to let the matter drop.

"So… Dinner?"

"Oh, right, I brought your favorite. Pasta a la Carbonara with an exquisite red wine and for dessert brownie with ice cream"

"How did you know?" – She asked a little shocked since they hadn't share a meal that wasn't Chinese take out or burgers at Remy's.

"Oh, come on, Beckett, give me some credit. I've been shadowing you for the past three years. Plus, I pay more attention when it comes to you."

She could feel a light blush creeping to her cheeks, hoping he didn't noticed, she began to get the plates from the cabinet.

"Well, thanks, it's just what I needed"

"No problem, Kate" – he said smiling. A warm smile that melted Kate's heart a little bit.

After setting the dishes, food and wine on the table they began to eat, he was nervous about her thoughts of the pasta. Granted, he had cooked that dish before (it was one of his and Alexis's favorites) but still. He looked at her expectantly while she ate the first bite. She closed her eyes and a little 'hum' sound of appreciation came from her mouth. He felt a weight lift from his shoulders and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Oh my gosh. Castle, this is the best Carbonara I've ever tasted. I didn't know you could cook like this"

"Why, detective, are you complimenting something I've made?"

"Well, yes, I am" – she said with a sly grin

"Thank…Wait, what?" - He said, stunned, clearly not expecting that.

She laughs at his reaction. 'He looks so cute when he is stunned. Wait, no, damn it, Kate get a hold of yourself!' she thought.

"What you heard, Castle. This is the best carbonara I've ever tasted, you deserve the compliment. Of course, now you're going to have to teach me how to cook it"

"Oh, I most definitely will. Hold on, you cook?" – a tone of disbelieve in his voice.

"Yes, I cook. Don't look so surprise"

"Sorry, you can understand my confusion with the sophomore temple on the fridge and me being the one that has to feed you at work"

"You think you're sooo funny, don't you?"

"I have my moments"

"I do cook. My mother used to teach me every weekend until I went to college. Her specialties were desserts but I can cook a little of everything I just don't have the time or energy. I bake a mean chocolate soufflé"

"I'll have to try it sometime" – he said with a sly grin.

The rest of the meal went smooth, they talked about various things; Alexis's college choices, Ashley's romantic setups, memories of Kate's childhood on the cabin and some memories of Rick's childhood. When dessert came, she was very impressed with the brownie, asking Castle where he had bought it. Needless to say that when he said he had baked it she had a hard time believing it.

"Come on Castle, this is perfect, no way you could have baked it!"

"Well, I had some help from Alexis but the main parts where all me. I'm wounded that you don't trust my word" – he said while pouting.

"I can show you the recipe if you still don't believe me"

She narrowed her eyes at him, analyzing. But she found nothing but pure honesty on his eyes, and something more she couldn't quite place.

"Ok, fine, I believe you. And yes, you will show me that recipe. I could use it on the summer"

At the mention of the summer Rick felt a knot on his stomach. He had maybe an hour to talk to her and he still had no idea how he was going to approach the big elephant in the room. He decided to play it by ear and begged that he had a good hearing. Gosh he was a nervous wreck, thank the heavens his poker face was good.

After eating dessert he began to clear the table and do the dishes, despite her telling him that there was no need. He insisted, saying that he wanted to be nice and it was all he could do to help for the big trip the next day. She complied.

"So, Beckett, Are you going by car or plane?" – He said while sitting on the couch besides her

"Plane, I'm not very good at road trips"

"I see, need a ride to the airport?"

"No, my dad is taking me, we need some alone time after everything"

'This was it,' Rick thought, 'no more time, it's now or never'

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><p><strong>AN 2: Remember! reviews are love! :DDDD**


	3. Past and talks

**A/N: i can't believe i actually finished the chapter today! i've been out since 7 x.x. The next chapter won't be up till friday, i'm about to start it but again i have classes all day, so...**

**Anyways! happy reading! and if anyone from Venezuela is reading.. Happy Castle Day :D**

**Please let me know what you think?**

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><p>"Kate, there is something I need to tell you and just hear me out first before you ask or say anything, please?"<p>

"Ok…?"

"We've known each other for three years now, and I would like to think I've gone from annoying shadow to annoying partner and friend – she nodded with a smile on her face – but in that time, well, you see - there was a pregnant pause in which she was looking at him funny - Ugh, I'm a writer for Christ sake! And my mind goes blank! This is the effect you have on me Kate, I'm a writer and when you look at me like that with those beautiful hazel eyes and perfect face I'm at a loss for words. You're extraordinary in every sense of the word, besides Alexis you're the most important person to me. What I'm trying to say is that I …

He couldn't finish because a certain detective's lips were on his. At first he was too shocked to response, that didn't last long. He cupped her face with both hands. The kiss was gentle, slow, not like their 'unofficial' first, well, second kiss that was intense, full of repressed passion and longing. No, this kiss was tender, almost shy. That was until she carefully asked for entrance with a delicate brush of her tongue on his bottom lip. He immediately allowed entrance and deepened the kiss himself. Her hands went to his hair, not letting him go and pushing him deeper within her. A battle for dominance took place, much like their everyday dance, full of passion, teasing and fun.

When the need for oxygen was too much they separated; foreheads together, eyes closed, panting. After a few moments he broke the silence.

"That was…"

"Rick, don't"

She opened her eyes but quickly wish she hadn't. He looked hurt. Like a child who's puppy just got run over. She needed to explain, and space. She sat a little further from him.

"This past few weeks had been intense, to say the least. I don't want us to begin in the 'we almost died; let's make up for the lost time' kind of situation. I want to make sure that what we feel it's natural and not due to the heat of the moment. Does that make sense?"

"Are you saying that you have feelings for me?" – His smile was pure and happy, and the spark on his eyes was back.

She rolled her eyes but smiled.

"Castle, that was not the point. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"You need time"

He was serious again.

"We need time, yes."

"I'm willing to wait Kate," - he took both of her hands with his – "all the time in the world you need"

She squeezed his hands and smiled.

….

Not long after that, he left. She needed to get up early and finish with the last minute preparations. He felt lighter than air when he walked out of her apartment.

Early bird that she was, she was all ready to go at 8 the next morning. Her dad was with her taking the suitcases to his pickup truck.

"Katie, Is there something you need to tell your old man?"

"What? No. Why?"

"You have this look on your face, you seem… happier"

"I'm fine, dad" – she said while trying to hide the blush from her cheeks.

Of course, Jim Beckett knew his daughter and saw her blush. He said nothing more but figured that new spark on her eyes had something to do with a certain writer.

A few seconds later a text buzzed on her phone, she smiled at the recipient, Castle.

"Morning, Kate . Is Mr. Beckett there yet? Say hi for me!"

While she read the text she didn't noticed her father walking behind her to read it.

"Mr. Beckett, uh? I like the boy"

"Dad! What are you doing!" – She said sounding more and more like a teenager and less like a tough as nails detective. The blush didn't help either.

"Sorry! But I wanted to see who was putting that silly smile on your face"

"I wasn't smiling!"

"Oh, but you were! Now answer the man or he's going to think you were kidnapped or something"

She sighed but complied…her father was right after all.

"Morning, Castle. He says hi. I'm on my way to the airport now, leaving in a couple of hours"

Not a minute passed when another texted arrived.

"=( text me when you get there? Just to know you arrived safely. Please?"

"I will, ttyl"

Dismissing the grin on her father's face she continued with the last preparations. Checking that everything was in order they went to the airport.

After saying good bye to her dad and getting in to the airplane she was about to turn her phone off when she saw a couple of texts; one from Lanie and one from Castle. The one from Lanie said "Girl! You're leaving and no details on last night's date? Call me after your arrival! Have a safe flight!" she rolled her eyes and smiled, quickly responding with a thanks and a promise of an update ASAP. The one from Castle made her laugh.

"Have a safe flight my dear Kate. Hoping I'm not being too much of a cliché here but I'm missing you already"

"Such a girl, Rick. I'll call when I land. Shutting down my phone now"

On a certain loft in New York City a writer was about to do a happy dance right there in front of both daughter and mother. She had called him Rick, willingly! Not at a serious moment or a daring situation. Needless to say there were two red-haired women looking at him funny.

"Richard, is there something you need to tell us?"

"Yeah, dad, you seem very happy. I'm guessing the brownies were good?"

"Oh, she loved them. Other than that there is nothing more to tell, yet"

"Yet, uh?"

"Yes, mother. Nothing yet. You can ask me again in the fall"

"Well, I'm happy for you kiddo, finally. I'm off! Need to do some errands for the school. Don't wait up!"

After kissing each Castle on the cheek she left with flair, very Martha Rodgers style.

"Alexis, are you ok if detective Beckett and I get together?"

"That's a silly question. Of course I'll be ok with that. I know how happy she makes you. Plus, I'll have someone to watch over you while I go to college" – she said while smiling sweetly at his father.

He hugged her and kissed the top of her head

"Thank you, pumpkin. Now, off you go, school"

"Oh, right! Bye dad! – she gave him a peck on the cheek and ran to the door - Love you!" – She yelled while closing the door.

…..

Some hours later Kate arrived at the airport, turning on her phone she called her dad to let him know that the flight went well and then she called Castle.

"Detective, I assume that your flight went well?"

"Hi Rick, yes I just got off and picked up the luggage. I'm on my way to rent a car to drive to the cabin"

"Yes, about that…"

"Castle, what did you do?" - She asked, her tone was a warning

"Uhh…"

"Castle…"

"I…I…just rented you a car?"

His voice was losing its confidence after every word, resulting in a mile whisper.

"You did what?" – Her voice came off as a whispered yell trying not to draw attention to her in the middle of an airport.

"I'm sorry! I didn't want you to waste time, plus I know a guy and he just delivered your car to the airport but if you don't want it you can take it back, no payments…"

'He was nervous; he was so cute when he did that.' She thought,' and he was thoughtful,' not that she would ever tell him.

"Castle, you're rambling"

"Shutting up now"

He could practically feel the eye roll.

"I guess you did save me some time. But I will pay for the car, castle, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am"

She could practically see the childish smile on his face.

"There will be someone waiting for you at the exit of the airport to hand you the keys, the money arrangements will be solved at the end of your trip."

"Ok, I think I see said person. I'm going now"

"Call when you get to the cabin or at least text me, ok?"

"Ok, Castle"

"And Rick," – she said after a beat – "Thank you"

"Always"

And the line went off.

….

She went to where a guy was holding a sign that read "Kate Beckett". Said fellow was a tall man, maybe 6'5, wearing jeans and a plain white t-shirt. He was maybe in his early 60's and was much fitted for his age.

"Hi, I'm Kate Beckett. Richard Castle said you were waiting for me?"

At this, the man beamed at her.

"Yes! Miss Beckett, please come! When Rick called me this morning I was so glad that I could do something for the boy"

"Oh, you know Rick personally?"

They began to walk and talk to the parking lot, the man took her luggage.

"Yes, indeed I do. He is such a kind soul, you know. He did something for my family a long time ago so anything I can do for the boy I'm glad to help"

"I see"

"Oh what a fool I am. My name is Joseph Storm"

"Nice to meet you Mr. Storm"

Storm? She would have to ask rick about that one, she thought.

"Oh please, call me Joe"

"May I ask you Miss Beckett, are you two..?"

"Oh no, nothing like that. He is just a very good friend"

"Too bad. You two would make a cute couple, you know"

At this point they had already reached a blue SUV.

"This is your car, gas is full and it's been recently cleaned, here are the keys"

She thanked him and went to look for her wallet but Joe placed a hand above hers.

"Don't worry, it's the least I can do. We'll see each other in three months if Rick's information is reliable enough. Here – he said while reaching for a card on his wallet – call me if there is any problem with the vehicle"

They said their goodbyes and she went to the cabin.

The cabin was a good 30 minutes from the airport, trough a path on the forest. It was made of wood and had access to a fishless lake on the back. Her dad loved the act of fishing more than the fishing itself. The cabin was still like she remembered 12 years ago. They had stopped coming after her mom had died, although her dad visited a couple of weeks a year to visit a few of his fishing buddies and to maintain it.

The family pictures were still there, also the poker table on the living room (here is where she learned her poker face), and that damned deer head on top of the fireplace; it had always crept her out. She felt like part of her was in this place, it made her mood a lot better.

She went to her old room and placed the suitcases on the bed. She opened them and found a piece of paper on top of her things. She quickly grabbed it and immediately recognize the handwrite. It was the recipe for the brownies; she smiled and couldn't help to roll her eyes at his thoughtfulness. On the back of the paper there was a note at the end of it. It read:

"Hi, KB, I hope you're not mad I opened your suitcase. There is a badge of brownies on a Zippo bag on the other one to sweeten you heart a bit. – RC"

Her phone buzzed. It was Lanie.

"Hello, Lanie"

"Hello to you, Kate. You sound happy, is writer boy with you by any chance?"

"Very funny. No, he is in his loft, I think"

"Oh, so have spoken to the guy recently, uh?"

"Don't use that tone on me, Lane. Yes, I have. He texted before the flight and I called him when I landed"

"You did, didn't you? Not your best friend that you own huge details on last night dinner. That's ok, I'm not hurt"

"Oh come on Lanie, don't give me that. You know he gets all paranoid and he is extremely impatient. You're a reasonable person who can wait until I get home and call like normal people do"

"Sure. Now I want to know everything!"

After sitting down on the end of the bed Kate told her about dinner and dessert at wish the ME was congratulating her on getting a man who could cook. Then she told her about the kiss.

"That you did what!"

Kate never thought a person's voice could get so high.

"I kissed him?"

"After all that he told you? Good girl"

"So, are you two officially together?"

"Uh, no"

"Katherine Marie Beckett what are you saying? Why the hell not?"

Kate explain what she felt, that they needed space after everything and she needed some time to process her mom's case.

"And he was ok with that?"

"He said he would wait all the time in the world if that was what I needed"

A loud squeal sound at the other end of the line. It made Kate laugh.

"Girl, I'm so happy for you!"

"Thanks Lanie. Oh I got another call, say hi to the boys for me, please? I'll call you later"

"Greetings to writer boy"

She hangs up before Kate can response. The worst part was that it was Castle calling.

"Castle, hey"

"I was beginning to think you had been kidnapped"

"I was talking to Lanie" – she said, a little exasperation in her tone.

"Potato, potatoe. Was the car good?"

"Yes, and Joe is a very good guy"

"Oh, Joe went, uh?" – He asked seeming uncomfortable by that little piece of information.

"Yeah, why? I thought you'd sent him"

"Well, he owns the place. I didn't think he would actually show. I did a favor for his son ages ago and he is still very grateful. I didn't want you to think I'd sent him to brag about me"

"It didn't occur to me until you said it. What was the favor?"

"Oh, nothing, I just got James a job after he got out of juvi with the promise of his good behavior, of course"

"Really?"

"Yeah, well. I use to go to Sleek Creek when I was still a kid, 18, maybe 19, until I got my second best-seller and married Meredith. It was a great place to write and I've known the Storms for years"

"That explains a lot"

"You mean the last name? Well, he kind of inspired the character, James not Joe that is"

She could sense there was a little bit more to it than that, but he seemed very uncomfortable with the subject so she changed it.

"Interesting. I got the brownies, how did you get to my suitcase?"

Her tone of voice could be either of annoyance or amusement

"Uh, well, do you remember when I was doing the dishes?

"Yes…?"

"Well, your suitcases were there by the door of the kitchen, so when you weren't looking I tugged the recipe and the brownies. I thought it would be a nice surprise. The brownies were a bribe so you wouldn't kill me"

"You're proud that you slipped it to my suitcase without me noticing, aren't you?"

"Kind of"

"You're such a child Castle" – she said laughing.

"And you love me for it"

"You wish, Castle"

"That, I do"

And she froze.

He was mentally kicking himself.

"Kate, I didn't mean that, it was just a slip of the tongue, a figurate speech. Kate? Are you there?"

His voice showed fear and concern, but mostly fear.

"Yeah, no, I know. It is ok, Castle. Look, I should call my dad to let him know I'm here and all. I'll call you, ok?"

"Yeah, ok. Take care, will you? And I'm a call away, know that"

"I know, Rick"

After hanging up she plopped to the bed. She needed some serious thinking to do.


	4. What friends are for

**hi! I just wanted to say a few things. First of all... THANK YOU! i have 50 alerts on this story! i can't begin to express how happy you all make me with your alerts, favorites and reviews! even if you just read, it makes me want to do a happy dance :DDDDD So thank you! you encourage me to keep writing :D **

**As promised, chapter 4 :3... i'm a little unsure about this one... my muse decided to go on vacations so please let me know what you think? **

**Also, i'm working on the next chapter but mother's day is this weekend so i'll probably will be posting it sometime on Monday! **

**Happy reading!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Castle :c **

* * *

><p>He wanted her to love him and she did. Then why when he said it, even as a game, she froze? She couldn't think. She could've said some witty response to make him forget or joke about it. But she had frozen. Why? 'Because you're scared' said the little voice on her head that sounded way too much like Lanie. But, of what? Lord knows we've been to hell and back, several times.<p>

He said he would wait for her.

She believed him.

And that kiss was… there were no words; the connection, the passion, the tenderness, the love. It had been one of the most emotional moments in her life and still she was afraid. It made no sense, what so ever. She was sure he was going to say that he loved her before she interrupted him, she was not, is not, ready for the commitment that would mean love from both parts.

But why? Was it the job? Like Royce said? The risk of losing him while they were in a relationship? That couldn't be, not entirely, she loved him, losing him would be as painful now as if they were together. Even greater because of the 'what if'

This was frustrating! She had so much on her mind that it felt crowded. She needed to rest; she needed to fish without fishing.

….

On New York Rick was about to shoot himself. A slip of the tongue! But he didn't get it. There had been slips before, she had never EVER frozen, he'd even said 'I love you' to her once. Ok, granted, he was reading a letter and all of that but he said it looking at her straight on the eyes. Ok, they hadn't kissed at the time and he wasn't in love with her per say in that particular moment. But they had always moved past the 'moments' with some joke or something case related, or Esposito interrupting them…

And yet she had called him Rick.

There was hope; maybe he hadn't screwed it so badly after all. He needed some inside information and he knew just the person to talk to.

….

Back at the 12th…

"Yo, Ryan, have you talked to Becket or Castle since she left?"

"No. You?"

"Nah, but Lanie told me something pretty interesting last night"

"Don't tell me mom and dad are fighting again"

"On the contrary, Lanie said they had gone to dinner last night"

"Really?" – asked a very shocked Ryan.

"Oh yeah"

"Damn it"

"What?"

"Agh, my money was on after the summer. I lost like 50 bucks"

Esposito looked at him funny, trying to hide the amusement on his eyes.

"You won, didn't you?" – Ryan asked, feeling defeated.

"Who? Me?" – said Esposito, he couldn't suppress the big grin on his face

Ryan turned around to his desk and muttered some unintelligible words while exchanging some papers to the other side of his desk, rather forcefully.

"Detectives"

It was the voice of the new Captain.

"Yeah, Captain" – Esposito said in a very serious tone.

Ryan calmed down immediately and looked at her with his best innocent look.

"Come to my office, please"

Both detectives followed her, a little worried. After reaching her office and indicating Esposito to close the door behind them she sat down.

They were standing, looking like some kids who just got called to the principal's office.

"Sit down boys; I'm not going to scold you. We have a high profile case"

They sat, still remarkably quiet.

"One of the Commissioner's nieces was killed at 8 pm last night. Since you, besides Beckett, have the highest close rate in the city you'll be leading the case. Karpovsky and her team will be assisting you. I want this thing solved and don't even think about consulting the writer. As I said to Detective Beckett, unless he is with her he will not consult or visit the 12th. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes ma'am" – both detectives responded at unison, trying to conceal the shock from their faces.

"Go. Karpovsky already has the basics of the scene and is currently building the board"

Both men nodded and left.

That night they already had a suspect and were about to get a warrant for his arrest. Apparently the ex-boyfriend, who was on a mental facility after the break up, still, had a thing for her.

"Yo, so, the judge already left for the day, there is nothing we can do tonight so why don't we all go home early and start fresh tomorrow" – said Esposito to Ryan, Karpovsky and her team.

"Can't complain about that, Espo" – said Beltran, one of the detectives.

"See ya all sharp tomorrow, good night everybody" – said Ryan while getting up and getting his things.

They all said their goodnights and went home.

Ryan was next to Esposito on the elevator when his phone rang.

"Ryan" – He answered.

"Hey, man. What's up?"

"Castle, nice to hear from ya"

"You too, any interesting cases?"

"Not really, we got lead on a high profile one, but it's pretty straight forward"

"Congratz, Ryan. You two deserve it."

"Thanks, man"

"Hey, listen. You wanna come to my place for a poker game? You can bring Jenny and Espo can bring Lanie"

"Yeah, sure, let me ask him"

"Hey, Castle is inviting us to a poker game with the ladies. Wanna go?" – He said, placing a hand over the phone and whispering to Javier.

Esposito nodded and got his phone to text to Lanie.

"Be there in about an hour?" – Ryan asked to Castle.

"Ok, see you in an hour"

After saying their goodbyes Ryan called jenny to let her know about their plans.

"Do you think we should be teasing him before or after the poker game?" – Esposito asked his partner.

"With Lanie during the game. It would break his focus, I could use the money"

"Good thinking, bro"

….

Rick was typing away on his studio trying to come up with a way to focus on something other than Kate for more than 2 minutes… So far it wasn't working. He was almost done with the final touches of the editing of heat rises but it reminded him of Beckett too much. He was thinking of ways to kill his victims for the 4th Nikki Heat, so far nothing. All the ways he thought were from cases with Beckett.

'Saved by the bell' he thought as he heard the bell and went to open the door.

Esposito and Lanie arrived a few minutes before the agreed time, which was exactly what Rick wanted. After greeting, Castle let Esposito play Halo while he made the refreshments for the night. He grabbed Lanie and led her to the kitchen.

"What's up, writer-boy?"- she asked a little confused at her friend's actions.

"I think I screwed up and I have nobody to talk to" – he said while taking some snacks from the kitchen drawers.

"Is this about Kate? Castle, what did you do?"

She was in protective mode, folding her arms across her chest.

"I, well, I kind of told her I wanted her to love me over the phone" – he winced in anticipation of the ME's reaction.

"That you did what! – She asked, screaming the last word.

He explained the whole conversation, that it was a slip of the tongue. He told her about the last time he did something like that and about what happened at dinner. Not going into any details about the kiss, just that it happened. By the end Lanie seemed less dangerous and maybe a little more compassionate.

"Oh honey, she freaked"

"That I know, Lanie. She told me she would call, that was this morning. I don't want to pressure her, but I don't know what to do. I don't want to screw this up. I need your insights on Kate's mind"

Lanie Parish was not a softy, she had seen her share of ugly things because of her job to make her as cold hearted as ice, but the hurt on Castle's face and sadness of his eyes was enough to make her heart break a little. She wouldn't betray Kate's trust but she had to lift his spirit a bit.

"Look, Castle, she is scared. Don't ask me of what, because I don't know, but she is. She will come to her senses but she unconsciously asked you for space, you need to give it to her. She will call. I know her, she will. Just not for a while"

She placed a comforting hand on his arm and he smiled at her, with a little more hope and peace of mind. He would wait, as long as it took. He had promised her that and she was worth it.

"Thank you, Lanie" – he said as he hugged her.

She was a little surprised but hugged him back nonetheless. She had realized a while back that Castle was good to her girl but seeing him tonight like that, well, all doubts that had ever existed had vanished as quick as lightning.

Not long after that Ryan and Jenny arrived. Everyone greeted and Ryan went directly to where Esposito was playing Halo, making the girls roll their eyes at their boyish ways.

Rick finished setting the poker table, refreshments and snacks. He went to call the boys but ended playing a round or two of Halo.

After practically dragging the three stooges (as Lanie so fondly called them) out of Rick's studio they began to play.

They had played around three hands (Rick being the winner of all of them), talking and having fun when Ryan looked knowingly at Esposito. The game was on.

"So, Castle. We heard something really interesting today" – said Ryan while calling the hand.

"Yeah?" – Asked Rick, a little insecure. He didn't like his friend's tone. He felt the sudden need to run and hide.

"Yeah, bro – interrupted Esposito – "Should I tell him or should you?" – He asked looking at Ryan, a mischievous grin on his face.

"Oh, be my guest"

"Thanks, man"

While this was happening Rick looked at Lanie who was glaring at Esposito. 'Yeap', the writer thought, 'she told Espo about dinner'.

"We heard from an anonymous source that you had gone on a date with a certain Detective yesterday, is there something you want to share with the class?"

"Uh, no?"

"Come on, man. We're your buddies, you can tell us anything" – said Ryan.

"There is nothing to tell; we ate, we had a few laughs and I came home" – he said nonchalantly. It was those moments when he was grateful for his acting genes.

Lanie who was sitting next to Esposito gave him a quick kick on the calf and a glare that clearly said 'drop it or I'll withhold sex for a month' at witch Esposito widened his eyes and slightly nodded.

"Ok bro, be like that, we'll know the truth sooner or later, right now let's play"

Ryan gave him a confused look but after receiving a death glare from both Lanie and Jenny he focused on the game again. Rick couldn't be more grateful at both women.

Just as was predicted Castle lost his focus and the winner turned out to be Ryan, followed closely by Lanie, Esposito, Jenny (who had a very good poker face for a first timer) and finally Rick.

At approximately 10 pm they decided to end the night, the boys had to work on that high profile early in the morning and both Lanie and Jenny had early shifts.

Alexis had stayed at Paige's house for the night to study for some crazy exam she had the next day and Martha wouldn't be home for at least another hour. He decided to call it a night and try to get some sleep.

As he usually went to bed a little after 12, he was up at the ungodly hour of 6 am. The sun was barely up and the house was extremely quiet. He checked his phone; No messages or missed calls, he sighed loudly, frustration filling him.

After breakfast was made and eaten it wasn't even 7 and he had already nothing to do for the rest of the day, or week, or month for that matter.

He went to his bookshelf and decided to grab something from Poe. He was his favorite author and primal inspiration for becoming a writer.

He settled with a collection of his favorite's stories and went to his studio, got his iPod and listened to some hard rock. He wasn't a fan of reading and listening to something as hard core as AC/DC but in this case he needed to stop thinking, and what better way than reading Poe and listening to the gracious tunes of Angus Young and his killer guitar solos.

It was going to be a long couple of months.

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><p><strong>Review, please?<strong>


	5. Dreams and choices

**Hi again :3 sorry for not updating yesterday but power went out for most of the day... the beauty of my country -.- ... anyways!**

**I'm sorry i haven't been able to respond to reviews but the site is not letting me ! idk why :c so i apologize for that... thank you so much to those who had reviewed :D you've made my day ^^**

**Oh and i use a pic stana showed on her twitter acc for inspiration, it's the final scene of 3x24... it's not the same as i describe it but if u wanna see it - **/h8qckfpj****

****Happy reading :3****

**Disclaimer: don't own it =( **

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><p>In a little cabin on the far out of Minnesota a detective was having trouble sleeping. She had been relaxing the previous day, reading for like the 10th time 'Heat wave', making some big lunch, baking a pie and drawing some of the landscapes. She was tired but every time she tried to close her eyes to get some sleep, she would see Rick's face and remembered the kiss. She tried to think about something else but every little thing reminded her of him. Finally, at about 3 am sleep was more powerful than her brain and she dozed off.<p>

Sleeping was not a good idea.

_Roy had been kidnapped, two men had taking him from his house 24 hours ago. They had finally had a breakthrough on Beckett's mom's case. The captain was pulling the big guns, disregarding his boss's orders. Too many men in high places were linked to her mom's murder, to the conspiracy of it all. She and Castle had followed some leads, chasing Lockwood, and had found out where Roy was being held. _

_They had searched the building but found nothing, then, when she was on the Hall on the first floor; she heard a sound on the other side of the doors, a chopper. She ran with her gun pointed at the pilot, ready to fire when she saw him, Roy Montgomery was in the copilot's seat, bounded. There was a third man on the back, he had a machine gun, she was sure it was Lockwood. He pointed at Beckett and was about to fire. She was about to pull the trigger calling 'NYPD, Put the gun down!' when Roy knocked down the pilot, making the third man lose his focus and try to regain control of the chopper that was now on a descent angle, a very dangerous one. Beckett knew that even if Lockwood was able to stabilize the bird at time there was little she could do against a machine gun, so she ran as fast as she could. A few feet from her position was a concrete welcoming sign of the building's company, just as she jumped behind the sign she felt the heat of a blast, the deafening sound of the chopper crashing, of Roy dying, for her. _

She was sweating, heart a mile per hour, when she woke up. For a second she was back at that moment, she didn't recognize the cabin and couldn't remember recent events. After a few minutes she saw the frames of the family pictures and regained a little of control. Images flashed before her eyes; the funeral, meeting the new captain, Rick being with her every step of the way holding her hand, the kiss, their last conversation. She began to cry, clenching the pillow. She hadn't cried for Roy yet, she couldn't allow herself to crash and burn while she had to do her job, but now… She was on vacations and alone.

She cried for the rest of the night, when sun began to rise she finally slept a dreamless sleep, caused by exhaustion.

For the next month her days were pretty similar; she would cook and play some tunes with her father's guitar, sometimes read or 'fish', and at night she'd mourned the death of her mentor and friend. Sometimes she would have nightmares, but she accepted that as part as her punishment for getting Roy killed.

One night, all of that changed.

_She was chasing Lockwood; she had lost him on a corner, Castle right behind her. She was ready to fire, about to turn into an alleyway when she heard a loud plop. She turned around just to catch a glimpse of Lockwood, who was laughing like a mad man, disappear before her eyes. She was in shock; she almost didn't hear the whisper that came from her partner who was bleeding on the floor. She saw him and kneeled before him, taking his head and putting it on her lap. _

"_Kate…" – he said, cuffing blood._

"_Shh, Castle, it's going to be ok," - she said while her hand gently removed the hair from his forehead - "I'm calling for help" She got her radio out and called the ambulance, she began to apply pressure on the chest where all the blood was coming from, but the more she pushed the more blood came out. It didn't make sense. She had tears on her eyes, her heart was pounding and it literally hurt to breath. She couldn't lose him. She wouldn't. _

"_Rick please, stay with me. Don't you dare die on me! We still have to catch Lockwood. You can't leave me! You said you'd always be there!" – She said between sobs, caressing his face. He just looked at her. _

"_I love you, Kate" – He whispered, before breathing heavily for one last time. His beautiful blue eyes lost their light and he was gone. _

Kate jumped from the bed; she was shaking, tears damping her eyes and cheeks, heart pounding, sweating. The sheets were a mess, she had been tossing. Breathing was hard. She grabbed the pillow and began to weep freely, using the fluffy object to mute her crying.

The dream had felt so real, even more than the memories of Roy dying. She turned the side lamp on and tried to calm herself. After what seemed to be hours she finally could breathe at a normal pace, her heart had steadied and her tears had subsided. She still couldn't close her eyes without seeing Castle's eyes lose their light.

Without thinking she grabbed her phone, dialed 2 and pressed send. Three rings latter the very sleepy voice of Castle sounded.

"Kate? It's … 2 o'clock in the morning"

She didn't talk.

Something clicked in his brain and suddenly the sleep was gone.

"Did something happen? Kate?"

"No, nothing. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have called"

To any person, she would sound fine, but there was a little, almost imperceptible, high pitch that was telling Castle that she was not fine.

"Yes, you should've. I told you I was a call away if you needed me. What happened?"

"It's nothing Rick, just a bad dream. I wasn't thinking when I called"

She was relieved that he was ok, that it all had been just a bad dream.

"Was it about the captain?"

"Yes"- she lied.

He noticed.

"Want to talk about it?" – He asked gently.

"No, it's ok. I'm just… I'm just going to get back to bed"

"And Castle, it's good to hear your voice"

Before he could respond anything, she had hanged up.

'Well, so much for sleeping' he thought.

He called her, it rang about 6 times and then to voice mail.

He tried again.

Nothing.

This was going to be a long night

A few hours later Richard Castle was pacing in his studio. He had been thinking about the last words from Kate, he had tried to call her back, he knew she needed to talk to someone, but she hadn't answered. This could mean that she had fallen back asleep, but he knew her better than that.

It was good to hear his voice? They hadn't talked in a little more than a month. He was climbing up the wall with impatience; he had played Halo, Guitar Hero, read every book that didn't remind him of her and had a weekly poker or game night with the boys. He had been worried sick about her and when she did call she is like that? He had to do something. Suddenly it came to him. She might kill him but he was going to do give her what she needed, not what she'd asked for. (It was about damn time, too)

….

"Weird"

"What is it, chica?" – asked Esposito, a little groggy from sleep.

"Writer-boy is calling, at 7 am"

"Should I worry about him?" – He asked jokingly, kind of.

She just looked at him in her 'oh, please' look and answered.

"Castle? Do you realize what time is it?"

After a minute or two of Castle talking she just answered:

"Uhu, she did, didn't she?" – She asked looking annoyed.

And she kept listening.

Esposito was silently asking her if it was about Beckett. She just nodded and he plopped his head back at the pillow. He loved that girl like a sister but she could be pretty stubborn when she wanted to. Poor castle, he thought, that man was such a love sick puppy.

Javier looked at his girlfriend and smiled. Maybe he was as love sick puppy as Castle and he couldn't care less.

Lanie smiled a few moments later after listening to something Castle was saying.

"I think that's a great idea"

"Yes, I'm sure. It's been long enough"

"Good luck"

And she hung up.

"What was that about?" – asked a puzzled Esposito

"Writer-boy was asking for advice" – she answered lazily as she snuggled against his chest.

"He still hasn't heard from Beckett?" – He asked as he began to trace idly circles on her back.

"She called him at 2 a.m., said she was sorry for disturbing him and then hangs up on the poor guy. She didn't answer the next 10 calls from him."

"Hmm, I bet he was having trouble getting back to sleep after that"

"He hasn't yet, he's been planning something. He is worried"

"Should he be?"

"Well, knowing Kate she is fine, just avoiding the whole thing, don't ask me why, I have no idea. But you know how Castle is about her"

"Yeah, I hope she realizes soon"

"Me too, baby, me too"

….

Alexis was entering the kitchen, still sleepy and on auto pilot, grabbing some things to make breakfast when she heard his father on the studio. Weird, she thought, with Detective Beckett out of town he had been sleeping pretty late most days and not really doing anything productive since the new captain didn't let her dad near the 12th, which was a pretty dumb idea to her. She had been a little worried through the summer, her dad had lost a little of the light that was on his eyes after the last time he'd seen detective Beckett, she hadn't ask him about it at the time but after a couple of weeks she finally did. He just said that everything would be fine and that all that was needed was time. Alexis really hoped that was the case, Beckett seemed to make her father really happy, happier than she had ever seen him with any woman that wasn't family.

After hanging up with Lanie, Castle was about to make another call when he heard the footsteps of his daughter. He decided that the call could wait and went to meet the apple of his eye. She was in the kitchen making scrambled eggs and some bacon.

"Hmmm, it smells delicious, honey"

"Morning dad" - She says as Castle gave her one arm hug and a kiss on the top of her head

"What are you doing up so early?"

"Uh, well, Beckett called yesterday and she seemed a little off, so I'm going to see if I can make sure she is fine"

"Oh, I hope she is. I bet it hasn't been easy losing the captain the way you guys did"

"It wasn't, pumpkin, especially not for her"

They ate in silence; Castle was still fixing some lose ends on his plan. After finish eating he went back to his studio to make a few calls and Alexis went back to her room to get ready for school.

….

Kate felt guilty. She hadn't answered the calls from Rick after their talk. He had stopped calling after about 4, 'maybe he assumed I had fallen asleep?' She said to herself. '_And the sky is purple' _the little voice in her head (Lanie's voice) responded. Of course that annoying voice was right… She hated when that happened.

Right now it was a few after 2 p.m. She had blacked out at about 6 out of pure exhaustion. She would call Rick, at night, when she had eaten and done some form of exercise and a bath, a really, really, long one.

She thought about what to say to Rick, it had been a month and she missed him, deeply. It was hard not to see his smile, the way he looked at her with those puppy dog eyes, the way he knew when to make a joke, how to make her smile and when to shut up and just be there.

She went for a run in the forest. It was her way to clear her mind. She usually preferred the punching bag, or man, but she didn't have either in the cabin. So she went for a run, a long one. She had been walking the area everyday at least once a day so she knew it pretty well.

After getting to the cabin she arranged the bathtub with some relaxing scents and got in. She relaxed her mind and thought of nothing, it was her routine after a hard day at the precinct, she grabbed an exfoliating glove and began to massage her body, beginning with her shoulders and then her back, legs, finishing with her neck. After a good 20 minutes in there she dried herself and put on a robe. Cleaned the bathtub and went to the kitchen to get started on dinner.

Usually when she was back at New York she usually ate pretty late, if she ate, and it was some leftover of the Chinese food she'd had for lunch or a simple pop tart. But here she enjoyed cooking and eating at early hours. She changed into some sweat pants and a loose shirt and went to get some food from the fridge. She was in the mood for some pancakes which was weird. But there were no flour and very little butter. She sighed and hung her head; she would have to go to the store that was 15 minutes away on car. She didn't like the prospect of going out. She bit her lower lip, balancing her choices.

'Oh, hell, I want those pancakes' she said to herself

Grabbing the keys she left for the store.

About half an hour later she was returning from the store with the flour, butter and some gummy bears.

When she got to the cabin there was a car next to hers, it was a red fiesta. 'That's weird' she thought, 'maybe Joe had something to say to me?' She had recognized the car from the airport after Joe had lent her the keys to her SUV, he had gone into that red car.

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><p><strong>Please let me know what you think? i haven't read any spoilers about the finale except that a characters dies and that is going to be the death of us fans over the summer and i'm not sure i did justice to the dreams... it's just that if Roy dies he needs to go as a hero...<strong>

**The next chapter should be up by Friday... classes are beginning to get in the way D: **

**And i'm not going to dwell on Beckett's mom case because well, i don't have the brains to come up with a conspiracy that size or do it as well as Mr. Marlowe. Please review? =3**

**i'm rambling... I know... i'll stop now.. **

**~A.C**


	6. Costumes and sleep

**Hi :3 so... chapter 6 as promised :D warning.. this will cause you diabetes ... too much fluff xD i'm serious xD i don't know what came on to me xD **

**Please let me know what you think :D **

**Reviews are love! **

**Disclaimer: i don't own Castle U_U ok? T_T**

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><p>When she got to the door there was a man sitting on the stairs, his head was down and he had a cowboy hat. But that particular man could be wearing a freaking clown suit and she would still recognize him.<p>

"Castle! What are you doing here?"

He lifted his head to look at her as he took the hat from his head and placed it next to him. He was shocked, how the hell had she recognized him?

"You didn't answer my calls" – he said with a soft voice, it was almost a whisper.

If he hadn't looked so hurt and with bags under his eyes she would have yelled at him. She decided he deserved a break.

Kate sat down next to him on the stairs.

"And that made you fly all the way from New York? And is that a fake mustache? – She almost laughed but her poker face worked like a charm.

A beat later she continued

"I'm sorry, I should've answer your calls or at least call you back"

He couldn't believe it. She had apologized to him! He wanted to kiss her so badly, at least hug her, hold her, tell her that it was ok, that he was there for her. He couldn't do that, so he settled to just look at her. Gosh he'd missed her; she was as beautiful as always. She looked adorable; she had a pink shade on her cheeks from the cold, and even her nose was a little reddish. She looked good, except for a shade of darkness in her eyes, the kind of darkness that follows you around after too many nights of nightmares. He should know. He'd had them after the freezer slash bomb incident.

He might have been looking at her for far too long because she was getting this confused and a bit annoyed look on her face that made him snap to reality and to the task at hand.

"Yes, you should have. I was worried sick about you" he said as he took off his so called costume.

She opened her mouth to speak but closed it again. She repeated the same actions a few times which made Rick's heart swell. She was acting terribly cute.

He couldn't take it any longer.

"Please don't kill me"

Before she could comprehend his words she felt the strong and warm arms of Rick embracing her. It felt so good to be on his arms. She felt save. She circled her arms around his rib cage. They stayed like that for what seemed hours; she buried her face on the crook of his neck and breathed in his scent, she felt all warm and fussy inside. She wasn't afraid anymore.

They finally let go of each other, reluctantly, and she looked at him straight on the eyes.

"I really am sorry, Rick. I just… I wasn't ready to talk"

"Are you now?"

She bit her lower lip.

"We don't have to talk about it yet. I just needed to see that you were ok"

"I am" – She said smiling.

"So, isn't that Joe's car?" - She asked pointing at the red fiesta.

"Yeah, I didn't want you to know it was me when you saw another car on your drive way so Joe lend me his" – he said, very proudly, with a smile on his face.

She rolled her eyes at him but a smile managed to creep out her face.

Gosh, he even missed the eye roll.

"How did you know it was me?" – He asked, curiosity peeking.

"Come on, Castle. I've known you for almost four years. And the expensive clothes were a giveaway" – she said with a cocky smile on her face.

He was wearing a pair of jeans and a long sleeved black sweater with some very expensive looking, new, mountain boots.

"Damn, I didn't think of that" – he said grinning like a fool, which caused another eye roll from the Detective.

She got up and he did too, not really knowing how to proceed.

"So, want help with those?" – He asked after a beat, pointing at the bags.

Kate handed him the bags and thanked him, she unlocked the door and they entered.

"Wow, I love this place! It's so homey and warm" – he said after taking a good look around the living room and following her into the kitchen.

Rick placed the bags on the counter and began to take the products out - "Ooh, gummy bears. Nice choice"

She smiled at his ADD, it was cute.

"I'm making pancakes for dinner, want some?"

"A chance to try the skills of the Kate Beckett, can't wait"

"They're just pancakes Castle, not a big deal"

"Why pancakes? Isn't that like a breakfast meal?"

"Kind of, but I was in the mood, so there"

She began to prepare dinner and Castle just watched her. She seemed fine; she looked so adorable with nothing but the loose shirt, sweat pants and her long hair falling perfectly on her shoulder. It had grown a little in the last month. The image was so homey that his mind started to wonder if the future might be like that, maybe with a ring on her finger and a girl or boy that were the perfect combination of the two. His day dream ended abruptly when a napkin hit his face.

"Hey!"

"I was talking and you were day dreaming again"

"Oh. Sorry. What did you say?"

"I asked if you could make the coffee, the machine is next to the fridge"

"No problem"

As the gentleman that he was, he prepared the coffee as suggested. While he was waiting for the water to heat he opened the door of the fridge and gasp at the view. She had a fully stocked fridge; there were different kinds of meat, several fruits, vegetables, eggs, cheese, milk, beverages, and desserts, half of a chocolate cake. He closed the fridge still in shock.

"Ok, who are you and what have you done with my Beckett?"

"Your Beckett? What on earth are you talking about Castle?" - She asked without looking at him, still focusing on the task at hand.

"You have food, actual food, not a Styrofoam temple, no bacon with a flurry thing on it and for what I can see your coffee maker works fine"

She laughed at his temple comment.

"Yeah, well, I have actual time to cook now. Plus, I like to cook, it's relaxing"

"Now I can't wait to try those pancakes" – he said smiling.

After the coffee was done he had nothing to do but to wait for Kate to finish cooking, he was hungry and it smelled so good. The gummy bears were staring at him, begging for him to eat them. With a childish look on his eyes he reached for the bag and opened it without making a noise, he was about to take one or two gummies when the spatula hit his hand.

"Owww that hurts Kate"

"No candies before dinner, you'll spoil your appetite" – she said with a glare that slowly turned into a smile when she looked at his pout.

"Ok, mom" – he said, still pouting, while rubbing his palm with his uninjured hand.

"Don't be such a child Rick. Now set the table, I'm almost done"

He obeyed and left, leaving Kate to her thoughts.

Oh, she was in trouble. It had been a month, 34 days to be exact, not that she was counting, and at the first sign of trouble he'd flow to her, because he'd said it, he would be a flight or a call away if needed. And she did. She hadn't realized until she saw him sitting there on the stairs, until he'd hugged her, until he'd smiled with that silly grin of his, but she needed him.

Dinner was ready, plates were set, and coffee was served. "Bon appetite" – said the author as he cut the first portion of the meal he took a bite while the detective was observing him, she was a little nervous of what he thought of her cooking abilities, seeing that he was an amazing cooker himself and all, not that she cared what he thought, just his professional insight. "Keep telling yourself that, girl" said the voice in her head.

"Kate, this is the best pancake I've ever tasted!"

Beckett let out a breath she didn't know was holding and smiled at the man beside her.

"I'm glad you like it" – she said while starting to eat herself.

"Like it? I love it!"

They continued to eat and chat for a while. After that they settled on a couch that was in front of a fireplace in the living room. They sat there for a while, contemplating the fire, lost in their own worlds. Neither knew how but they had ended up snuggled there, no words needed, just enjoying being next to each other, making up for the lost time. After what seemed hours and at the same time just seconds, he spoke.

"Kate, I'm..."

"It's pretty late, we should get some sleep, you look like you need it" – she said while getting up.

He sighed. "Me? I'm fine" – he responded fighting a yawn.

"I can see that, - she said smirking – come on, time to sleep"

"Are you inviting me into your bedroom Detective?" - He asked with a cocky smile and wiggling his eyebrows.

She rolled her eyes before answering "You'd wish. There is a spare bedroom you can use. It's next to mine"

"Yeah, ok, I'll get my stuff from the car"

"And Kate", he said stepping closer to her, "I'm glad to see you're ok"

He held her gaze and before he could think too much he had his arms wrapped around her. This time she melted right away and rounded his neck with her arms, resting her head on the crock of his neck. She could breathe his cologne combined with the smell of the forest and something that was uniquely his. She didn't know what possessed her but the next words were spoken without the permit of her brain "I'm glad that you came". He tightened his grip on her before whispering on her hair "Always" and releasing her; he kissed her forehead softly and went to get his luggage. Beckett was left on the spot, a big smile on her face. Oh, she had it bad for him.

When Rick came back to the cabin, bags in hand, he found his muse on the kitchen washing the dishes. He left the bags next to the kitchen door and went to stand next to her. "Here, let me" – he said quietly, taking a plate from her hands, drying it and placing it in the drawer next to him.

"Thanks"

He just smiled at response. They kept working, she washed and he dried.

"You know, there are these things, very high tech, called washer machines. They do this kind of job for us"

"Very funny, Castle. My dad doesn't come here often enough to buy one, plus it's relaxing"

"It is?"

"Yeah, I don't know if it's the sound of running water or repeating the same drill over and over again but it keeps me from thinking too much"

"Hmm, I still prefer angry birds when I don't want to think"

"Oh, so you _do_ think" – she says, emphasizing the word 'do'

"Ha ha, very funny" – he says sprinkling some water in her face with his fingers.

"Oh, no you didn't", mouth wide open in shock, "You're so paying for that, she says as she splashes some more water on the writers face and sweater.

"Hey!" He yaps

"You asked for it"

He looks at her with a twinkle in his eyes, she knows that look "Castle...", she says as a warning. He is smiling now, an evil smile. Her mind screams run and she does.

She jolts from the kitchen and into the living room with the writer close behind her, she is about 10 feet from her bedroom door and from safety when Castle reaches her and encircles his arms around her waist making Kate squeal and laugh in delight.

"Castle, let me go" she tells him in a very unlike Beckett and girlish voice that makes the writer laugh.

"No way" – he says as he presses his wet sweater against her back making her squirm.

"Castle! You're wet!"

"And whose fault is that?"

"Yours"

Before she can react he begins to tickle her with one hand while holding her securely with his other arm. She tries to get rid of his hold but he has impressive upper body straight (she wonders if he does push ups with his laptop while on a writer's block or something).

"Whose fault Beckett?"

"Ok, ok, fine!" – He stops tickling – "I'm still saying it's yours"

The tickling began again, full force

She struggles, but she is laughing too much. He has been taking steps backwards to maintain his balance and before he can realize he falls into the couch, taking her with him. But he never ceases to tickle.

"Rick! Ok, ok, my fault, my fault!" - She says still laughing with tears on her eyes.

He stops, but his arm is still around her waist "There, was that so hard?" He asks into her hair, close to her neck. "You have no idea" she stirs in his arm and places her hands on his chest to steady herself. She really shouldn't have done that. Both writer and detective became serious, each lost in each other's eyes. Without noticing, their face were pulling closer, terribly slowly, like if this huge magnetic force was uniting them. They were millimetres from each other's lips; her eyes began to close in anticipation and his head tilted just a little bit...

"Dad! Dad! Dad!" - The ringtone for his daughter's number startle the two and he groaned before taking his Iphone from his pocket. She just laughed at his reaction and hidden her head on his chest so that he couldn't see the blush that had crept to her face.

"Hey pumpkin, is everything ok?" – He answered the phone, trying very hard to sound normal.

His face softened at the sound of her daughter's voice and a warm smile appeared on his features. The detective's heart skipped a beat; she loved seeing him with his daughter.

"Uhum, yeah"

"That's great, Alexis! When is it?"

At this point Kate had extracted herself from his embrace and they both sat next to each other on the couch.

"A month? Of course I'll be there! I wouldn't miss it for the world! Yeah, I'll tell her. I love you, too. Bye"

He hanged up and looked apologetically at Kate

"I'm sorry, Alexis was telling me some great news"

"You don't have to apologise Rick"

He smiled at the use of his first name.

"What was the news?"

"Well, you know she plays the violin, right? – Kate nodded – "Her school does this concert every year for charity and she's got a solo, she just found out so she called to tell me"

"That's great news! I'm so happy for her" – she said smiling.

"Also, she says hi and she would love it if you could come, too"

At this piece of information her eyes widened in surprise; she and Alexis were not exactly best friends, but every time she went to Castle's she was very pleasant to be around and the time she worked at the precinct she had bonded with the girl. She was honoured that his daughter had thought of her.

"But if you don't want to go..."

"No, I'd love to. I'm just surprised that she'd thought of me"

"Of course she did! She really likes you"

At this she blush which Castle found awfully cute.

After a beat of silence Rick stands up and lets her know that he could really use some sleep. He gets his bags and she shows him his bedroom, they say their good nights.

His bedroom is the guest's, it has a king size bed, a small fireplace on a corner and a window behind the bed that showed a lake. Since it was almost 11 the moon was at the top and it reflected beautifully on the lake, creating an almost magical vibe to the scene.

Rick Castle was happy, he was still alive and with all of his limbs in place. Plus, he was pretty sure that if Alexis hadn't interrupted them, they would've kissed. Yes, Rick Castle was indeed a very happy man.

It was still dark outside when Rick woke up startled by the voice of his detective. She was screaming, he ran to her door and knocked, calling her. When she just kept screaming he opened the door, expecting the worst. He saw her; she was asleep, having a nightmare. She was tossing and turning, her face seemed disturbed and there were tears on her cheeks. He ran to her and tried to wake her up but she was too submerged in her dream. He held her and whispered soothing words in her ears until she calmed down. He tried waking her up again and this time she woke up slowly, still in the threshold between dream and reality.

"Castle, you're alive" - she said groggily, placing a lazy hand on his cheek and caressing his face.

"Of course I am, it was all a dream, Kate" – he said softly, as if speaking to a child.

Moments later Beckett focused on Castle's face and her eyes widened; she removed the remaining sleep from her eyes with her hands and sat up straight.

"Castle? What are you doing in my bed?"

"You woke me, you were screaming so I ran in here and you were asleep, I tried to wake you but you wouldn't listen. When you finally did, you asked me if I was alive."

"What? I did?"

He just nodded.

"Gosh, I'm sorry Castle. I didn't mean to wake you." – She apologized, her voice still groggy and low from sleep.

"Hey, no, it's ok. But, what was your dream about? You told me they were about the captain."

"They were, at first. Can we talk about it tomorrow? I don't feel like talking about it now"

"Yeah, sure, I'll just go", – He says as he is standing up – "Can I bring you anything? Te, perhaps?"

"No, I'm fine" – she says and gives him a little smile.

"Ok, then. Good Night, Kate"

He starts to walk to the door but a whisper stops him death on his tracks.

"What?" – He says as he is turning around

"Stay" – she repeated a little louder.

She seemed so fragile; his heart broke at the sight. He went to her and sat on the bed.

"Are you sure?" – He asks. His voice is low and uncertain, afraid he might hurt her somehow.

"Yes, I need to know that you're ok" – she whispers back.

Without saying another word he pulled the covers and got in, unsure where the boundaries were he sticks to his side of the bed and waits for her to fall back and sleep. He placed his head on the pillow and watched her from the corner of his eye. Kate laid down and took Rick's hand, he was shocked (to say the least), but he just intertwined his fingers with hers and kissed the top of her hand gently before drifting to a peaceful sleep.

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><p><strong>Please let me know what you think :D?<strong>

**~AC**


	7. Nightmares and breakfast

**Happy Castle Day! so, who is nervous and who is terrified? me? i'm both... i would simply not watch the episode until september but i can not be unspoiled for 4 months.. so... yeah.. **

**Anyways! i got writers block with this one and i'm not sure about it .. so i decided to end it where it was and post the next one on Friday.. maybe.. please review!**

**Disclaimer: DOn't own it.. if i did we wouldn't have to wait 4 months...**

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><p>Hours later Rick was hugging a very slim and long pillow that tickled his face, smelled like cherries and something that reminded him of Kate. 'Oh crap!' he thought. Very slowly he opened his eyes and yes, in front of him was the hair of a certain sleepy detective and his arms were holding her by the stomach. 'Oh crap, crap, crap' he told himself, 'Ok, calm down, Ricky, just slowly extract yourself from her' he heard the voice in his head say, 'But I don't want to!' he replied to said voice 'move!' 'Oh fine, I'll try'<p>

He began to remove his arm from her belly but she grabbed his arm and put it right where it was, intertwining her fingers with his without waking up.

'Great, now what?' - He asked his inner voice.

'Uh, keep sleeping?'

'Yeah, ok'

It didn't need much convincing; he went back to a world of dreams where he'd wake up just like that every day, with a big smile plastered on his face.

Hours later Kate started to get chilly; she felt this cold, hard thing on her back. She was on her side, facing a mirror that she didn't remember being there. The light from the window behind the bed reflected on the mirror and that's when she saw him. Rick. He was pale, eyes glassy and cold, he was behind her, facing the sealing. She stirred to look at him; she screamed his name, caressing his face, trying to feel a pulse on his neck. Nothing. He had this awful look, like he had seen a ghost and died from fear. She didn't know what to do; she was desperate, hearing her heart breaking into million pieces.

"It's your fault, you know" – Said a low voice, almost like a growl, from behind her.

There was something familiar in that voice.

She jerked her face to where the sound was coming from. The mirror was gone but instead there was Roy; his eyes were pitch black and he was dressed in a black suit, pants and shirt included, no tie.

"No, it's not. He was fine last night" – she told him in between sobs.

"He got scared, Beckett. You pushed away too much and that is the result" – he said while pointing with his index finger at the body that was once Rick Castle.

"NO! I don't believe you, sir!"

"It's not the first time. It's your fault that I'm dead, I was about to retire, travel with my wife. You made that impossible"

"Kate! Kate!"

It was Rick's voice, it came from afar. She looked at where his body was but there was an empty space instead.

"Rick!" – She called, looking at all directions at the sealing – "Where are you?"

"Kate! You need to wake up, remember…" – Rick's voice told her, every word a little quieter than the last.

Beckett opened her eyes in shock. The first thing she saw was the blue, very much alive, orbs of her writer. Without thinking she hugged him, it wasn't until she did that she noticed that her cheeks were wet. She couldn't care less; she let the tears run freely as she felt the very warm and strong arms of Rick embrace her. He kept whispering soothing things in her ear.

When the sobs subsided she separated from Rick but he still held her at arm's length. He cupped her cheek and removed a single tear that was running down, and kissed her forehead.

"Talk to me, Kate" – he said gently.

She sighed, she didn't want to relieve the whole experience, but she needed to tell him, she'd promised.

"I woke up and you…you were dead…your eyes were glassy and empty, you were cold and had this expression of fear on your face. Then the Captain showed, he was dressed in black and had pitched dark eyes, he told me that it was my fault that you were both gone"

At this point she had tears threatening to fall back but she fought them.

He brushed a lock of hair from her face and looked directly at her. The next words that flew from his mouth made Kate's heart skip a beat.

"I'll always be by your side, do you hear me? Always" – he whispered in her ear. His voice full of emotion.

Her breath caught in her throat, she couldn't speak so she just nodded.

They stayed like that, in each other's arms, for quite some time, neither willing to let go. It wasn't until Kate's stomach decided it was time to have some breakfast that they pulled apart, looked at each other and laughed. Rick insisted on making something to eat while Kate showered and changed.

After about 20 minutes Kate had already showered and dressed; she decided on a pair of jeans and a green t-shirt with the green lantern slogan in the front. It had been a gag gift from Lanie and she secretly loved it, maybe even more after discovering that a certain writer liked said super hero.

She was finishing with her hair when the smell of scrambled eggs and bacon hit her nose, which, of course, made her stomach grumble. She smiled at the thought of Castle making breakfast for her, but then a rare feeling on her belly bothered her. That damn feeling that had been holding her for a long time had crept out again; fear. It was bothering her that she still felt it, after what happened last night, they way she felt around him. She took a deep breath and went to him.

"There you are, I was about to call you. Your coffee is on the table and so is breakfast. I'll be back in a sec, just going to grab a quick shower"

Before she knew it she was alone in the kitchen so she sat down at the table. She couldn't help but to smile at the thoughtfulness of Castle. The table was set; two empty plates, a cup of coffee filled and one empty; there were other plates from where the smell was coming from, covered with a napkin to keep the food from getting cold.

On her plate there was a note that read "Please serve yourself, I'll join you as soon as possible. RC" she smiled as she drank a sip of her coffee, feeling the caffeine taking effect she began to relax. She closed her eyes and smiled remembering the look of Castle's face in the kitchen. She would never say this to him, god knows he doesn't need any ego boost, but he had the most adorable look on his face, that combined with his hair messy and almost on his eyes made her want to smile. Oh, she had it really bad for him.

"Thinking anything good?"

Kate was a little startled when she heard Rick's voice, he couldn't have been gone that long, or maybe her daydreaming was as bad as his?

"Oh, nothing, just enjoying my coffee"

She smiled at him.

He narrowed his at her for a second, he knew there was something she wasn't telling, but decided to let it go for now.

"Hey, you haven't even look at the food"

"I was enjoying my coffee"

After finishing breakfast he picked up some dishes and before leaving he whispered in a husky and sexy voice that made her shiver "Green Lantern suits you very well detective, you know how much I _love_ that comic". And he left to wash the dishes.

Yep, she was screwed.

So, - he said after returning from the kitchen drying his hands with a hand towel – What are we doing today?"

"You look…"

"Sexy? Irresistible? I know,…" – he said as he placed the towel on his shoulder, kind of like a bartender.

"Actually I was going to say very Mr. Mom"

"Oh. Yeah, well, I had to learn all the ways of the job for Alexis. I wasn't comfortable with someone coming to the house to do things that I could do"

"I understand. My dad was the one that handled the chores when I was little. Since my mom was the one with the 9 to 5 job and he was a freelancer"

"So, you were a total daddy's girl" – he said, smiling kindly at her.

"I guess I was" – she said smiling at the memories of her childhood.

After a moment of Castle staring lovingly at his detective he snapped out of it before she'd noticed

"You never answer my question, Got any plans for today?"

"Actually, no, I usually read or ehm cook"

"Only done that after a month and you haven't lost your mind?"

"Well, I also kind of fish"

"Kind of? Are you that bad?"

After a glare she answered trying to hide a slight blush "There aren't actual fish in the pond"

"What? Then what do you do?"

"Come on, I'll show you"

It had been about 2 hours since that. Kate had grabbed her dad's fishing rod for Castle and her own and went to the backyard where the pond was. They brought two flexible chairs and a cooler with some cokes and sat on the deck. Beckett told him that the art of fishing was not in catching the fish and eating it, it was in the way you threw the rod and admire nature, the way it relaxed you. Castle was mesmerized by the way she explained it all; she had a look on her face of pure enjoyment and relaxation. Kate also told him stories about her childhood and the cabin, how her dad had always loved the act of fishing and inculcated it in her.

"I can't believe it has been two hours, you were right, this is relaxing. I could do this all day"

"Told ya"

…..

After cooking and eating a very delicious BBQ made by Beckett (at Castle's insistence that he needed to prove her amazing cooking skills in other type of food that wasn't heavenly pancakes) they were resting lazily on the couch, a bit closer than usual, Rick had an idea.

"You know…" – he said in that tone of voice he had when he thought of Castle flavor ideas.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about what you're going to say?" – She said eyeing him skeptically.

"You hurt me, Detective; I was going to suggest a walk on the forest. There is a place I know from my days here"

"Oh, really? Do you think that place still exists? I mean it has been what? 30 years since you came here?"

"Hey! I'm not that old. – he pouted - For your information it has only been 20 years"

"Only?" - She said with a grin

"Oh, ha ha, detective, very funny"

After looking at her with his best 'pet me, I'm cute' puppy dog eyes for half a minute, she caved.

"Ok, Castle, where are we going?"

His eyes lit up and a big smile came back to his face.

"Come on, the exercise will do us, uh, me some good"

Rick rose from his seat and laid a hand to Beckett; she hesitated for a second or two but took it nonetheless.

They left the cabin after grabbing Kate grabbed the keys and Rick a couple of things from the kitchen and saved them on a backpack and putted on his back. She eyed him suspiciously but said nothing; she kind of liked that sense of surprise that Rick gave her with his antics.

"Castle, do you really know where we're going?" – She asked, about an hour later, they were still walking.

"Don't you trust me Beckett?"

Silence.

"Kate?" – He said turning around with a worried look on his face

She was smiling. He relaxed.

"Yes Castle, I trust you, I just think that we're lost"

"Nothing like that, I know exactly where to go, come on now, there isn't much left. I promise"

After 5 minutes he stopped and came behind her whispering on her ear "Just relax and trust me" and covered her eyes with his hands, he indicated her to keep walking.

About a few feet later, she was getting anxious and he noticed "Calm down, Kate. We're here"

He slowly removed his hands and she opened her eyes, missing the feel of his hands on her face. She dropped her jaw and her eyes popped out from their sockets.

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><p><strong>R&amp;R please!<strong>

**~AC**


	8. Past and lakes

**I'm baaaack 8D sorry about the delay... i suffered from some serious writer's block after that finale... i mean, who wouldn't? plus the classes are getting in the way of my writing D: so, anyway! here it is! hope you enjoy it! please let me know !**

**Oh! and kuddos to MyNameIsJeffNImLost for figuring the stargate reference :D and than you to everyone that are kind enough to leave a review :D sorry i'm not responding ****but the site is not allowing me to, don't know why :C**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own anything!**

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><p>It was about six o'clock in the afternoon when they arrived. The timber line was completed and began a lake; in the shore there was an old wooden dock, large enough to fit up to 4 people sitting in a row. In the background you could see a line of trees occupying the skyline, with its luxuriant pines and flitting birds. Behind the trees could be seen a line of snowy mountains, these were so high that clouds cover the peeks. The sun was setting, which made the reflection in the shining water, creating a feeling of pure bliss.<p>

"Castle, this is…"

"I know, right?"

"How did you…?"

"Well, I was having writers block on my first novel so I went for a walk to clear my head. I lost track of time and I liked to walk so of course I got lost. I walked for about 3 hours, it was already dark and I was not exactly a boy scout."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" – She said with a mocking voice.

After a playful glare at her, he continued.

"As I was saying, I kept walking and saw the forest came to an end. In the distance there was a surface reflecting the moon light, I followed and end up here"

After that, Rick took his backpack and placed it on the corner of the deck closest to the shore. He opened it and took a blanket, placing it on the deck he sat and indicated Kate to accompany him by patting the spot next to his with his hand. She sat next to him, legs horizontal and shoulders barely brushing his. She observed the sunset and he observed her. The light was hitting her face in all the right places, making her even more beautiful and breath taking to him. She looked like and angel and he couldn't help to grin like a fool.

It had been so long out there that the sun was down and a beautiful layer of stars and constellations covered the sky, making the moon shine even more and producing a sparkling effect on the lake.

She was lost in her thoughts, so absorbed in her world that she didn't noticed when the writer laid on his back on the blanket, with one hand behind his back and the other on top of his chest.

He didn't want to disturb her, he knew she needed her space, not to be pushed (especially after what happened in the morning), so he laid back. He waited for her to realize that he had moved. It took all of about 10 minutes. When she did, she simply lay back as well; he instinctively putted the arm that was on his chest around her. She placed her head on his shoulder, using it as a pillow. He was surprised at first, but he didn't complain, not at all. He slowly traced idly patterns on her arm with his hand. The touch was a caress really, almost imperceptible, just enough to let her know he was there for her. She relaxed eventually and putted an arm around his mid section, still looking at the stars.

"You don't see this many stars on the city, it's so beautiful."

"I know. After I found this place I built the deck so I could watch the stars at night, it gave me a sense of calm and inspired me, so much."

"Mmhmm, I can see what you mean."

A brief paused passed before it clicked on her brain.

"Wait; did you just say you build this thing?" – She asked, finally looking at him.

He was in memory land, looking at the sky.

"Yeah, I'm actually very skilled with my hands."

He chose that moment to meet her eyes and couldn't help but to wiggle his eyebrows at her and showing her his classic smug grin, which, of course, made her roll her eyes. His tone was serious when he continued the story; he kept his eyes on the stars.

"When I discovered this place, I was amazed at the beauty and at the feeling it created on me of pure serenity. The problem was that the tree line covered the perfect view of the stars, the times I got to see them I was on my swimsuit and couldn't stay for long because the water was so freezing cold. One day I decided to use my hands for something more that writing and got some tools and wood. I think it took me a month or two to finish it, maybe more. But it was worth it, to just lie here, looking at the stars and letting my imagination run wild. Soon I came here every night to sleep. I wasn't sure the thing had lasted this long, I was so happy when I saw it still here after all these years."

"Well, you do have a gift, this is extremely well built."

"Oh, wow. An actual compliment from the Kate Becket, maybe the stars will begin to fall"

She smacked him lightly and he grinned.

As if on cue, a shooting star flew the horizon which made them laugh like crazy.

"I told you the stars will begin to fall."

"Oh, shut up Castle."

"Make a wish, Kate." – he said in a low voice, almost a whisper. It felt intimate somehow.

…

"So, tell me Castle; How did you learn?"

"The art of carpentry?"

She nodded and he took a deep breath.

"When I was like 15, or maybe 16, Mother had a boyfriend, very nice fellow, treated her right and all, James Riley was his name. The relationship lasted almost two years and he was very kind to me. He was a carpenter and a businessman, a big CEO of a furniture company. Every Sunday he would teach me a thing or two about the art. Apparently I had a skill for the craft and it was fun. It also made the girls go crazy for me"

The last sentence he said it wiggling his eyebrows, lightening the mood a bit. She, in between laughs said "Figures". They stayed there, looking at each other's eyes for what seem like an eternity and not long enough at the same time. She was going to say something when her stomach grumbled in protest, making her blush, and he chuckled a bit.

"Don't worry, I brought supplements." – He said while sitting up and reaching for the backpack.

She smiled while sitting up as well, silently cursing her stomach for breaking, yet, another moment.

…

They had eaten comfortably, sharing memories of their times in Silver Creek. He had brought the gummy bears, the chocolate cake he had seen on the fridge, some bread, cheese, coke and water. She'd asked him how he had gotten all of that in the backpack and he had responded that since he traveled a lot he had learned to pack a lot in very little space. He had promised to teach her someday the secrets.

They had finished and were looking at the lake, her head was resting on the crook between his chest and shoulder and he had an arm wrapped around her. He felt so…, he didn't have words to describe how he felt. Contempt was one feeling, complete happiness was another. He thought right now was the perfect moment for him to tell her what he had been trying for the last month. The setting was perfect, they had been having a great time and he felt they were a little bit closer now. Yes, tonight was the night. He took a big breath and prepared himself.

"Ka-"

"Oh my gosh, Castle, look at the time!"

"What?"

"It's almost 10; it's not a good idea to be in the forest this late at night."

"Nah, it's ok – he dismissed her comment with a nonchalant wave of his hand – I've slept on this deck many times."

"It will get cold soon, did you bring another blanket?"

"Uh, no."

"Then we're leaving, come on, let's pack everything."

"Damn it, - he mentally kicked himself while shouting in his thoughts – why the hell didn't you bring an extra blanket?"

"Yeah, ok."

After gathering everything they were ready to leave when Kate realized a very important something.

"Castle…"

"Yeah?"

"Please tell me there is a flashlight in there somewhere – she said while pointing at the backpack on his hand."

He looked like a deer about to get hit by a car.

"Castle…" – her tone was a warning.

Oh, yeah, he was in trouble. Better start looking.

"I'm sure I got one in here, give me a minute."

"Or the ability to produce a flashlight out of thin air." - He mutters to himself.

After getting everything out and looking in all zippers and compartments he was starting to be afraid for his life. He was only one zip short of a certain and painful death…he opened it with extreme care, like if it held a bomb. He gulped as he inserted his hand and started probing the space. He felt something cold, like metal, shaped like a tube with one of the endings slightly wider than the other. He got the object out and held it up on the air as if it were a price.

"Ha! I knew I had one"

"That little thing?" - She said looking quizzically at the little silver flashlight.

It couldn't measure more than 5 inches long.

"Size isn't everything, Detective."

"Uhum, Did I hit too close to home, Ricky?" – She said with a sly grin.

"Quite the contrary, Beckett"

"Whatever you say…"

"I could prove it, if you think you can handle it" – he said in a husky tone, getting a little closer to her.

"In your dreams, Castle."

"Oh, you have…ow!"

While he wasn't looking she had grabbed the flashlight and before he could finish she had flash it right on his face.

"You're right, it's quite powerful."

"Told ya."- He said, still rubbing his damaged eyes.

"It has neon bulbs instead of the usual ones"

"I can see that, now come on, it's a long walk back to the cabin"

….

An hour and a half later they were almost home. They were holding hands, since there was only one flashlight and it was pitch dark, it was only natural. That was a good excuse, Kate thought, she was the one that had suggested it. She was taking point, holding the flashlight, listening one of the many, many, ghost stories Castle had. This one was actually not that bad.

"So, the boy kept his journey further into the house. He knew he shouldn't, every fiber in his body was screaming to get out of there, but his curiosity was far greater than his gut. His senses were on high alert. He would jerk his face at every little sound, starting to think that maybe this dare was not worth it. Another noise made him jump and his heart pound even faster, if that was possible, and he decided that it was it, he was about to turn back and run to the door and to his friends but he heard a voice, an almost guttural one, at best. He felt his insides flip and his throat suddenly extremely dry. And he saw it…"

"What?"

"Nobody knows, his body was found the next morning with this awful face; his jaw was out of place and his eyes were almost out of his sockets and his hair and clothes were damped like if he had been on a river."

"Castle! You just copied that from The Ring!"

"I did no such thing"

She was about to flash him when he help up both hands, bringing hers with them in surrender.

"Ok, ok, you got me, just don't flash me again. My eyes can't take any more damage"

She rolled her eyes, letting a smile bloom from her face.

"Such a drama queen, Castle"

"Hey!" – He replied in a whining tone

"Look, we're here"

She let go of his hand and went to the door, missing the warmth and the feeling of safety it produced. He was disappointed that she had let go, but there was nothing he could do, not yet.

After entering he went to the kitchen to put away the remaining of the food and she left to her bedroom to change. About ten minutes later she was in a sweat pants and a navy blue t-shirt with the yellow logo 'NYPD' plastered on the chest, she heard a soft knock and after letting him know it was ok to come in he entered with a little caution. He was wearing sweat pants and a grey shirt.

"I already put everything in its place, I came to which you a good night…so, good night, Kate."

"Night, Castle."

He gave her a little smile and began exit her room when she blurted out:

"Thank you."

He gave a 180 turn.

"For what?"

"For showing me the lake and sharing those stories, I, I had fun today."

"Not a problem, I had fun too." – He said with a gentle smile.

He was about to leave again when a sudden feel of déjà vu hit him when he heard her voice.

"Stay."

She didn't need to explain or to make up excuses; he just turned around and went to the bed. Shyly, she lifted the covers to make room for him and he got in, taking the same side as the night before.

Lying in bed he kissed the top of her head good night and turned off the lamp of the night stand, he was surprised that he wasn't already dead after that.

He fell asleep extremely fast and she looked at him. Somehow she felt the roles being reversed (she being the one watching him, not the other way around); he looked like 10 years younger with all of his features relaxed. It was almost adorable. Without much thought she placed her head on his chest and snuggled, putting an arm around his stomach. As if on instinct, his arms wrapped her body tight. It was the first time in almost two months that she'd had a peaceful night of sleep. And the first time in a very long time that she slept with a smile on her face.

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><p>Please review :D?<p>

~ AC


	9. Accidents

**Hi! i just want to say thank you to all who have read, reviewed, put on alert and favorite this story! u guys inspire me to write more :D 3 **

**Disclaimer: Don't own castle...**

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><p>It's been a week; he has slept in the same bed as her. It prevents her from having nightmares. They don't talk about it. The night after they had first went to the lake, she'd tried to sleep alone, let's just say they were lucky that the local police hadn't come to check on the screaming. Apart from that, the week had been fun. They'd go to the lake most afternoons and stay a little after the sunset. One day he finally convinces her for a sleep over on the deck, with extra blankets and flashlights for each. She wouldn't admit it but she had fun, they even putted together a fire and cooked marshmallows.<p>

They were about to start making lunch when Kate's cell rang, indicating that it was Lanie she went to the living room to pick it up, leaving Castle with the cooking. They had been alternating between the meals, insisting that when he cooked lunch she would bake something for dessert. Her chocolate cakes and cookies made him moan in pleasure every time he'd try them, reason why he had offered to cook almost every day, but failed most times, she'd known the reason as to why his offerings and pointed out that she had no desire to visit the gym more than necessary once she was in NY.

So when she left, leaving him in charge of lunch, he did a fist bump and a little victory dance before shouting to her that she had to make her homemade chocolate chip cookies and brownies. She just replied with an amused eye roll, answering her phone.

"Hi, Lanie."

"Hey, girl, is that writer-boy I hear saying something about brownies?"

"Yeah, he thinks he can have cookies and brownies for dessert."

"Oh, so you have baked him your secret recipe, Should you be telling me something?"

"No, Lanie, - she said rolling her eyes – he just found the last batch of cookies I had about a week ago and he has been annoying me to bake them again, and again, and again."

"Well, you don't sound too bothered by it."

"It's not like that, Lane. I still haven't told him anything, and I won't yet."

"Hun, why the hell not? What's keeping you this time?" – She sounded a bit annoyed.

Silence...

"See?"

"I know, but I'm just not sure if I'm ready for a relationship right now. I still feel like its wrong for me to be happy with all that's happen recently."

"Oh, honey, ok listen to me: I know I didn't knew the captain as well as any of you, but I knew him well enough to know that he wanted you to be happy, to be safe. Before he was kidnapped he made Castle promise to keep you safe, he wanted you to be happy and knew that writer boy made you feel that way."

Tears were starting to form on her eyes, but she blinked them away and swallowed the lump on her throat.

"I know Lanie, my head knows and my heart does, too. I will let him know, I will, when the time feels right."

"Yeah, ok, just remember he can't wait forever, he is only human after all."

"I know, I know. So, did you just call to see if my relationship status had changed?"

"To some extent, I also wanted to make sure Castle was still alive, he kind of disappeared on us, not that I blame him"

"No, he is alive." – She said trying not to smile but failing miserably.

"Good, also, just updating you on the new boss of yours. Javi tells me she seems good enough. Not like the cap, but she has been trying to get to know everyone and has given them some space to be their goofy selves as long as it doesn't interfere with the job"

"Well, that is a relief. I just don't understand why she seemed so bothered about Ri-Castle working with the boys while I'm not there."

"Beats me, maybe there is some history between them you don't know about?"

"I think he would've told me."

"Yeah, and don't think I didn't notice your slip"

"Shut uuu-up Lane."

"You're blushing, aren't you?" – She said, very amused

"No..." – her tone gave her away

"Uhu, well anyway I think there is more to it than her being strictly by the book"

"Me too, I just can't put my finger on it"

...

After a good 15 minutes of catching up she hang up, promising her an update on relationship status as soon as it happened.

Kate went to the kitchen to find him sitting on a stool and looking at the window by the dishwasher, head on his hands and elbow on the wooden island. He looked so cute when he was deep in thought.

"How is Lanie?" – He asked, not looking away from the window.

"She is fine, updating me on Lisbon"

At this, he turned and faced her.

"So, how is she behaving?"

"According to Lanie, she is great. She even lets the boys goof around when it doesn't interfere with work."

She sat on the stool next to his, facing the window.

"Then why does it bother you?"

"I still don't get why she has a problem with you, you're my partner; we have the highest close case rates and we've prevented some pretty big stuff. I just don't get it."

He was smiling sweetly at her, touched by her concern.

"What?" – She asked, defensively.

"Nothing, I'm just happy that you care about our partnership"

"Of course I care, Rick, do you know how hard it is to train someone these days?" – She said with her teasing smile.

"Oh, ouch, I see, you're too lazy to train a new puppy. It's ok, I understand." – he said, pouting and looking at her with those big baby blues, those that made her belly flutter with butterflies.

"I'm glad you do"

The meaning wasn't lost on him.

"So, what are you cooking?"

"My famous lasagna. It goes great with those cookies of yours or the brownies, or both"

He sounded so hopeful, like a kid asking for his birthday present.

"Ok, I'll bake the cookies. – Huge smile on his face – But just the cookies! No brownies, I'm feeling lazy today."

"If I were Alexis I would be jumping up and down, but I can help with the baking, if, you'll like?"

"Nu-uh, I'm not giving away the recipe just yet, you have to earn it."

"I will, but maybe it's not a good idea. I want to keep walking to the precinct, not rolling"

That earned him a laugh from her.

…

It was a little after 4, Rick was happily eating his portion of the cookies while waiting for Kate to finish her bath, so they could watch a movie when Kate's Blackberry rang.

"Kate! Phone!" - He yelled.

"Who is it?"

He picked it up and saw the screen but there was no caller ID.

"Doesn't say!"

"Pick it up, will you? I'm still in the shower!"

"Ok!"

"Hello, this is Rick Castle"

"Oh, I was calling at Ms. Katherine Beckett" – answered the voice of a polite woman.

"Yes, this is her phone, she is currently unavailable but you can leave a message and she'll call you when she gets a chance"

"Ok, well, my name is Rose Heathway, I'm a nurse and I'm calling from Mercy hospital. Her father, James Beckett, was in an accident…"

"How is he?"

"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to say."

"Can you at least tell me if it's serious?"

"It's not too serious."

"We'll be there as soon as possible, thank you."

…

He knocked on her door a minute later.

"Kate? I need to talk to you."

"Come in, who was it on the phone?" – Her voice came from behind the bathroom door.

He entered the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for her to come out of the bathroom. When she did, she was in jeans and a simple brown t-shirt with a towel on her head, drying her hair with it. She looked so beautiful.

"So?"

"What?" – He asked, returning from his day dreaming.

"The phone?" – She said, smiling

"Oh, right, sorry." - He blushed, realizing he had been caught.

He grew serious when he remembered the reason for being there in the first place.

"Listen Kate, come here and sit down, please."

She followed his instructions, sitting next to him, facing him, with a really bad feeling.

"Eh, Mercy hospital called, your father was in an accident. The nurse who called said that it wasn't too serious. I've already made arrangements and there is a flight at 6. We have about two hours to pack and go"

"What kind of accident?" – She asked in shock, trying to keep herself under control.

"A car accident, they wouldn't give me any more details."

"Ok, well, I…I'll start packing" – she said blinking rapidly and looking at a ramdom point on the wooden wall.

"Yeah, me too" – He stood up and was near the door.

"And, Rick, thanks"

"Anytime" – he smiled and left.

Half an hour later they were getting the suitcases out of the house and in to the SUV, she locked the windows and door and went to the driver's seat but before she could climb up, a certain writer went to her and managed to get the keys out of her hands.

"Don't kill me! But you're not driving"

"And, why not Castle?" – She said with one of her best death glares, which made him gulp.

"You're in no condition after the news you just got, please let me drive"

"I'll let you borrow my Ferrari for a week after your father gets better?"

After a loud sigh, she accepted and hopped to the co-pilot's seat. They drove to the airport in silence. She was looking out the window, deep in thought.

At about 9 they were at the emergency room of the hospital. Rick had arraigned a car to pick them up at the airport and to have the suitcases delivered at his loft where Alexis was going to pick them up.

At the nurse's station it was Kate who spoke.

"Excuse me, a nurse, Rose …"

"Heathway" – Castle finished for her

"Right. She called me. My father, Jim Becket, was in an accident…"

"Ms. Beckett, I'm nurse Heathway, please come with me." – said a nurse, short, stocky in her fifties, with a sweet face and kind voice that was on the phone next to another nurse.

She let them to one of the patient's wings.

"He is resting now, room 345, Doctor Leon will be there with you in a moment."

After saying their thanks they went to the room in question and entered. Rick was going to remain outside, but Kate glanced at him. Silently asking him for company. He did as he was told and entered the room with her, staying in the background.

As a writer, Castle tended to describe everything he saw, to notice every detail and had the need to touch everything he could so he could get a feel of it. It was his way of describing things, and he always said that success was on the details. But when he watched Kate's face as she entered the room his focus was solely on her. He had to make sure she wasn't falling apart and if she did that he would be there to pick up the pieces.

Kate hated hospitals; the smell, a combination of bleach and disinfectant, the lifeless colors of the walls, the, so called, food. But nothing compared to the reasons of her being in a hospital. She remembered the first time she set put on an emergency room. She had broke an arm, she needed to get a cast, she was like 7 or 8, and the doctor who treated her was actually very kind, the nurse on the other hand…not so much.

Now, she was here because of her dad, the one person in her life, besides a certain writer, that she couldn't afford to lose.

She hated that even more.

A few minutes later a soft knock interrupted her thoughts. Slowly a man came in, he was wearing a lab coat and glasses, and he wasn't very tall with brown eyes and curly hair.

"Miss Beckett?"

Kate immediately stood up and faced the doctor, sensing Rick behind her.

"Yes?"

"I'm Dr. Richard Leon; I'm your father's physician."

After introductions were made Dr. Leon continued.

"Your father suffered a minor concussion and he is just resting now. We'll keep him for observation but he should be released tomorrow afternoon."

She let out a sigh of relief. Both of them thanked the doctor. She could not help but smile after he left the room to continue his rounds that night.

The room had a one person sofa where she sat, indicating with a look for him to sit there as well. He chose the arm of the furniture instead. They silently searched for each other's hands and intertwined their fingers. She wasn't even looking, like if it was a reflex now, which made him smile a little.

Five minutes later the same nurse, Rose, entered and looked to them apologetically before indicating that visiting hours were over and that they could come by in the morning. When Kate gave her a 'no way I'm moving' look, the nurse took another approach, letting her know that her father would be sleeping the whole time anyways. Kate looked at her, her father and back to the nurse again, indecision all over her face, she felt a slight squeeze of her hand and decided that the nurse was right. She went to stand up, letting go of Castle's hand and gave his father a soft kiss on the cheek.

They left and headed to Rick's loft. It was a little after 10 when they arrived. When Castle opened the door he was attacked by a sea of red hair, a bone crushing hug from her daughter that he gladly returned. It had been a week since he had seen her after all. They entered completely to the loft she let go of him and embraced Kate too, albeit a little less forceful and by fewer time, the detective gladly returned the hug.

Alexis let them to the living room and they plopped to the couch, exhausted, to say the least. It didn't go unnoticed by the girl that her father and his partner were sitting a little closer than usual without even noticing – something she was definitely glad for –, she sat on the coffee table in front of them.

"How is your father, Kate?"

Her tone showed concerned which warmed the detective's heart. That girl was such a sweetheart.

"Just a mile concussion, he'll be out of the hospital tomorrow"

"Thank God. So, what happened?"

"A car crash. He was sleeping so we won't know exactly until he wakes up"

The plural wasn't lost on Rick, either.

"Well, I'm glad that he is ok. Oh, the car brought the suitcases, I putted them on the guest bedroom, and I wasn't sure which were whose."

"Thank you, pumpkin"

"No problem. It's getting late and I have school tomorrow, so I'll be turning in now"

She said her goodnights to both and rushed upstairs to her bedroom.

Rick looked at Kate; he didn't want her to go to her place, to be alone.

"I know what you're going to say, but please, stay here tonight? The guest bedroom is all set and that way I could accompany you to…"

She cut him off with a hand over his mouth.

"Actually, I was going to ask if it wasn't too much trouble for me to stay, just tonight. I'm too tired to even take a cab."

As she took the hand of, he looked at her with widened eyes. Shock was one thing he was feeling, joy was another.

"You can stay as long as you want, Kate. Your father too if he needs to, there is always someone home so he can be looked after."

"Thank you, Rick, that's sweet of you. Let's just wait what the doc says tomorrow, ok?"

"Sure."

She didn't want to make things uncomfortable for Alexis and even though Castle had made it perfectly clear that sleeping in the same bed wouldn't, she still felt like the guestroom was a better choice. That night she wore one of his old t-shirts and a pair of Alexis sweats pants. She missed the warmth of his body but at least she did not have nightmares that night.

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><p><strong>Review, please :3?<strong>

**~AC**


	10. Old friends and new challenges

**Hi! I can´t believe I´ve writen 10 chapters so far :D i hope you keep liking this story! Thanks so much for the feed back so far :D **

**Oh, and btw... this and chapter 9 are for my friend Rick Leon, he is in med school and helped me with the medical stuff, so, thanks Ricky, you rock :D **

**Disclaimer: don´t own castle u.u I own the books though ... and a poster ;D**

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><p>The next morning they left around 8 and got to Mercy at about 8:30 am. Jim was still asleep but Dr. Leon said it was normal and shouldn't worry. They sat at the same couch that the night before and Kate took one of her father's hand in both of hers.<p>

After about an hour Rick went to the cafeteria to get some coffee and left Kate alone.

Jim slowly opened his eyes, he was confused; last thing he remembered was turning left to go home for the night and then nothing. The smell that his nose registered was the one of a hospital bed. He hated that smell. He turned his head to the right were he felt soft skin grasping one of his hands and saw his beautiful daughter looking at the T.V.

"Katie-Lou"

His voice was still a little hoarse from sleep and medicines.

"Dad, I'll call the nurse."

She pushed the little blue button and gently caressed the hair from Jim's forehead.

He smiled a little at this, he felt as if the roles had been reversed. She was talking to him in a motherly tone, like he was her kid.

"What happened, Katie?"

"The doctor said you were in a car crash, don't you remember?"

"Not really," he cleared his throat, "last thing I remember is going home for the night, then waking up here."

Beckett was about to say something when Dr. Leon stepped in the room followed by Castle who was holding two cups of coffee.

"Mr. Beckett, I'm Dr. Richard Leon, your physician. How are you feeling?"

"Confused. I don't remember what happened after leaving work"

"Memory loss is not uncommon with your type of injury. From what the paramedics told us you were in quite an accident. A truck missed a red light and hit your car."

"Other than the memory loss, what else do you feel?"

"A bit of a headache, nothing else"

The doc made a few notes on the patient's clipboard and smiled confidently at him.

"Well, I'm releasing you in a few hours so your daughter and her husband can make the paperwork arrangements. If you lose consciousness in the next 24 hours come straight back here, ok?"

"Ok, thanks doc"

The doctor left, with a smile, a very open mouthed detective and writer behind.

Rick excused himself and Jim could have sworn that he was blushing and smiling like a fool. It could be the concussion too.

"Katie, did I miss something?"

He was obviously enjoying the doctor's confusion way too much.

"No. We're just friends, dad"

"Sure. The blush on your cheeks says otherwise though"

"Daddy!"

He grinned at this. It had been a while since his little girl had called him like that in such a childish tone. He imagined he had a writer to thank for that.

"Ok, ok, Katie-Lou. I won't tease you, much. Now bring your writer for a moment while you go and arrange for the paperwork, would you?"

"Dad…"

"Don't worry, I just want some company, I'll behave."

She playfully glared at her father and left. Moments later Castle came in to the room.

"Sir? Kate said you wanted to see me?"

He was standing next to the door, not coming any closer.

"Hello Rick, long time, no see. Come on, sit"

"Yes, too bad it was under such dreadful circumstances"

A silence is spread between them, an unspoken agreement to mourn the captain.

It's Jim who breaks the silence.

"I just wanted to thank you, Rick"

"What for, sir?"

"For bringing my Katie back. The one who laughed and smiled every chance she got."

"I don't think…"

"Let me finish, son. I noticed the change almost two years ago. Since Jo's death she had closed up at the world, she was all business and we had even grown apart a bit. One day she called me and asked me to meet at a dinner, she wanted to talk about what her mother would have thought of chasing her killer. After that she began to call more often and that is when you started to pop up on the conversations. Since then, well, she has been returning to her old self, very slowly, but once in a while I see her completely back, even if it is just for a moment. So, I thank you."

Rick didn't know what to say or do. He knew Kate, well; he knew a part of Kate. And he wanted to know all of her.

"I…"

"You don't have to say anything. I just wanted to thank you and to ask you to take care of her."

"I do, I will, I've always have"

Jim was about to say something when a very pissed looking Kate walked in the room, making Castle squirm.

"Castle! Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"S-Sure"

"Outside!"

He got up, smiling apologetically at Jim and exiting the room. If Jim wasn't mistaken he could swear he saw a glint of pure fear on the man's eyes, which made him chuckle a little.

"What's up Kate?" - He said nervously once they were both out of Jim´s earshot.

"I went to pay the bills, and guess what they told me?"

"Eh…"

"_Busted_", he thought

"They told me that it was all taken care of! I told them it was a mistake but apparently you'd paid them!"

"Y-yeah? So?"

_"Yep, she was pissed"_, he thought

"So! This is my dad! Why would you pay for my dad's medical bills? I can take care of him."

"I know you can, Kate. I never doubted that you couldn't, it's just… You've had a thought summer and I didn't want to worry you or your father with medical bills. Consider this a thank you for all the Nikki Heat money your inspiration has given me, please. Don't be mad?"

She sighed and ran a hand trough her hair. He was being sweet, damn him. She remembered a conversation she'd after the captain's funeral with Martha. She didn't understand why he had offered to pay for the arrangements and asked the older woman about it.

"_That's who he is, dear. When he cares for someone he likes to take care of them, and since he has a lot of money, well, it's really not a problem for him. It's his nature. _

_After seeing that Kate didn't truly understood her words, Martha placed a hand on the detective's arm to get her attention. _

"_Do you remember what you told me about money, that it only amplifies our personalities?"_

_Kate nodded._

"_Richard has always wanted to take care of those he loved and cared for. Despite what you might think, it is hard for him to express such deep feelings."_

She let out a breath to calm herself. She wasn't really mad at Castle, she really thought it was sweet of him; it was her pride that was mad at Castle. Luckily for the writer, she could control her pride…or at least she hoped.

"Ok, Castle, I'm not mad. And I'll pay you back as soon as possible."

"You don't have to…" the look on her eyes told him to change directions, "Ok, but don't hurry, take your time."

"Can't make promises"

"Good enough for me"

…

Both of them entered the room again, Kate taking her place on the couch next's to her father's bed and Rick deciding it would be better to stay on his feet, with his back against the wall.

"Everything ok with you two?" – Jim asked

Rick looked at Kate for confirmation and she nodded.

"Good, now, who wants to play some poker?" - he said, holding up a stack of cards

…

It was a little after 3 p.m. when Rick arrived at the loft. Kate took her dad to her place and agreed on calling him if something came up. After living with her for a week he felt lonely for not being with her 24/7, but he knew her father needed her now.

He went to his office to re read his 3th Nikki Heat novel "Heat Rises" before sending the manuscript to Gina and be free from her constant threats and bickering for a couple of months. Something he was extremely grateful for.

He turned on his laptop and opened the word document. He got lost in the world of Nikki and Rook.

Castle was about half way into the book when he sensed his phone vibrating. His face lit up like the fourth of July thinking it had to be Beckett. When he saw that there was no caller ID he felt a little disappointed.

"Castle"

"Rick, this is Captain Lisbon"

"Oh, hello captain, how is your summer going so far?"

"Can't complain, the 12th has been very receptive and they are a good group of people"

"I'm glad to hear that, ma'am. They're the best."

After a brief pause, he continued.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"

"It's been brought to my attention that you and detective Beckett are an…unconventional pair, to say the least, but you work well together. That being said I don't want you to think I'm a bad person when I told Beckett to not let you shadow Ryan and Esposito. You see, you're a writer Mr. Castle and whether you like it or not you are a liability. The only reason I'm letting you stay and shadow Beckett it's because Roy was a very good friend of mine and that's what he wanted. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am, but you have to understand, I'd do anything for Beckett, I'm her partner and I would never put her in danger, or Detectives Ryan and Esposito."

"I'm glad you think so, that is why I'm calling. Since Detective Beckett is on vacations until September you'll have the opportunity to go under training."

"T-training? What kind of training?"

"Self defense, combat, shooting range. If by September you pass the curse I'll let you shadow Beckett at the field as her somewhat official partner. Do we understand each other?"

"Yes, of course, when do I start?"

"Tomorrow, be at the 12th at 7 am and go straight to my office to meet your trainer. Good afternoon, Rick."

"Yeah, yeah, you too."

The called ended.

Wow, training? That is not what he had planned for the summer, but… He would probably get a gun! And he would protect Beckett like she deserved. A full grin spread across his face, he couldn't wait to tell her!

…

A few minutes earlier…

"Katie, could you do me a favor? Go to the store and get me some soy sauce?"

"Soy sauce? Why?"

"I was thinking of cooking something tonight but I need the sauce."

"Should you be cooking?"

"It's not like my arms are damaged, plus, you'll help me."

"Ok, I'll be back in a few…"

After hearing the sound of the door closing, Jim took his phone and dialed a number he knew for almost 15 years or since cell phones were on the marked for common use.

"This is Lisbon"

Her tone was professional, something he remembered with fondness and brought a smile to his face.

"Hey, Lis, it's Becks"

"Oh my, Oh my, James, is it really you?"

"The one and only! Katie told me you were the new captain at the 12th. Congratulations."

"Thank you Becks, I wish it were under better circumstances. Roy was my partner at the 64, I'll miss him."

"Yeah, he was a true hero."

There was a small pause.

"So, tell me Becks, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Just checking up, you know, I was in a crash last night and today –"

"A crash?, James! Are you ok?"

"Don't worry, Lis, just a concussion, the worst part was that my truck is damaged goods."

"As long as you're fine…"

"Oh, Lis, don't tell me that after all these years you've grown soft on me, have you?" – he said in a teasing voice.

"Shut up, Becks. So, since you're fine, what's this about?"

"As I was saying, I was in the hospital and, guess who showed up with my daughter?"

"Rick Castle."

"Correct, do I detect annoyance in your voice, Lis? Don't you like the boy?"

"Oh, I like him, I do. And he loves your daughter; you don't need to be a genius to notice that."

"Then what's wrong?"

"It's the partnership thing they have going. You know me since High school, James; I'm not ok with something so far off the books."

"Oh, don't I know that. But I've seen the dynamics these two have, solving murders and all. It's great. Better than Katie's first partner, Royce, and that is saying something."

"So I've heard, not so very smoothly from Ryan and Esposito. I guess if he would remain out of the field it would be fine with me, I can't risk your daughter or one of my detectives getting hurt because of his recklessness."

"Oh, Lis, don't be such a mean girl, would ya? He's being fine for three years and he would put himself in harm's way before letting something happen to Katie. I know so."

"I still don't know…"

"Ok, what if he had training? You know, fighting, self defense, knowledge in guns and its management."

Lisbon stayed silent for a few moments, considering her friend's words.

"You know what? I like your idea. If he can respond for himself then I'd be at peace."

"Good! Let him know and the training could start tomorrow, so when Katie gets back he'll be ready."

"Yeah, at least with the basics."

Jim was glad he could convince Lisbon, his friend was a good woman but stubborn as hell.

"So, how are the kids?"

"Oh, they are doing great; Rosie is 27 now and just got married last year. Daniel is 30 and is expecting his second child on September. Mattie, Daniel's first kid is 4 now and he is so gorgeous, Becks. Patrick is great, too. The pentagon is keeping him busy but is a good kind of busy."

"I'm glad, Lis. Things got better for you."

"Yeah…And how are you? It's been like, what? 12 years since last we spoke?"

"Yeah, about the time Patrick got that job…"

_"And I shot down everyone I was close to"_, he thought

After chatting for a few minutes they hung up with the promise of keeping in touch. Jim's mind began to go back to high school, when he'd met Lis. They had become great friends instantly after she saved him from a bully. And, even though everyone thought it, they weren't romantically involved; they were like brother and sister.

Senior year was when he'd met Johanna and it was love at first sight. The three of them were great friends and Lis and Jo were as close as two girls could be. When Katie was born Lis was about to get married to Patrick, the love of her life, but due to his job they had to move out of NY. They exchanged addresses and met a couple of times during the years but by the time Katie had grown up they had lost contact, just a few calls here and there and the usual Christmas card.

Until Jo died, that's when he shot down to the world, and in to the bottle. Jim shuddered at the memories and decided to think about something else. It was good talking to his old friend again. And it was even better that he got a chance help his little girl, just as long as she wouldn't found out.

…

After cooking something easy and tasty for himself, since Martha was looking for interior designers and Alexis was with Ashley, he went to his office to eat. He prepared a sandwich with cheese, meat and a special sauce of his. He sat down and looked at his phone. He hadn't heard from Kate and he was missing her, deeply. Setting the plate down at the table he picked up the phone and was thinking about calling but decide a text was better.

"_Hi, how is your dad? :)"_

A few minutes went by which he took advantage and began eating his sandwich until he sensed the vibrations on his Iphone indicating a new text.

"_Hey, he is great, he is going 2 spend the weekend with me and going home on Monday"_

"_I'm glad; u could use the father/daughter bonding. Can I call u? I need to tell u something"_

He was waiting for the confirmation but got a call instead.

"You know, I could've called"

"I didn't want to waste another text, what's up?"

"Well, interesting development, guess: who called earlier?"

"I don't know, Lanie?"

"Lanie? Nah, though I should call her to arrange another poker night, since I left for the cabin I kind of forgot about them, they're going to make me pay."

"Prepare yourself Mr. Castle, they'll wipe your ass on poker night."

"Yeah, I know. Jenny is actually better that she led on at first. She is better than Ryan, although she sometimes lets him win."

"Really? Oh my, I've got to see that."

"You will! Next Saturday night, 8 o'clock, my place, bring your lovely presence…and cash."

"You bet."

"Nice, so, what are you doing?"

"Just finishing up with the dishes, dad is resting on my bed."

"I thought you said he was ok?"

She was touched by the concern on his voice

"He is, I practically dragged him to bed."

"Oh, why am I not surprised?"

She ignored him and just rolled her eyes.

"So, who called?"

"What? Oh! Yes, Lisbon called. And I like her already!"

"Really? Why?"

She sounded incredibly skeptical.

Rick told him everything he remembered and he got really excited at the end.

"…I get to have my own gun!"

She rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless, she really liked his boyish ways. Not that she was going to tell him that. Ever

"Castle, from what you told me, she didn't actually told you about getting you a gun, she just said training."

"Beckett! Don't ruin my fantasies with your logic!" – He whined like a little boy, she couldn't help to smile.

"Sorry. So, tomorrow at 7?"

"Yeah, do you know who could be my trainer?"

"Uh, no, actually, the only ones I know that train there are Demming and Gonzalez down in robbery."

"Oh, well…we'll see tomorrow."

She refused to hear the sadness in his voice at the mention of Demming, she didn't want to mention him but he had to be prepared in case Tom was his trainer.

They talked for some time while he finished eating his dinner, and after about half an hour he realized it was nearly 11 pm. He usually slept after 12 but since the meeting with Lisbon was important, he decided it was best to sleep. He didn't want to be late.

He said his good-bye's to Kate and slept with a smile on his face. He was going to be Beckett's semi-official, or as official as a writer shadowing a detective can get, partner. The best of all it was that he could finally protect her the way she should be protected.

….

That ungodly 5:30 hour of the morning, which, to him, couldn't even consider itself morning since it was still pitch dark outside, was suddenly brightened by a text from his favorite detective, a simple 'good luck. KB' and he had a smile the rest of the morning, even whistling, while cooking and eating.

….

At 7 am sharp Rick Castle, dressed in a casual jean and long dark blue sleeved sweater, stood in front of the Captain's office. A small wave of sadness crossed his mind and he tilted his head down a bit in respect for Roy. He knocked softly and after hearing a 'come in' he entered, a little nervous.

"Morning, ma'am."

"Rick, good morning, and in time. I like that."

He replied with his signature grin and walked to her desk, standing upright. Like a soldier waiting for his orders.

Lisbon stood up and smiled to herself, 'Becks was right, he clearly is willing to do anything for Kate, good', she thought. When talking to Jim yesterday, she found out that Castle was not a morning person, so this was a little character test to her. He had passed with honors, so far.

"As you know, Castle, you'll be trained in the basics so when Beckett gets here in September you'll be ready to work with her on the field. But you'll training will continue afterwards to ensure that you're in full capacity to protect your partner, but of course since you'll be working cases, the hours won't be as long. Also, there will be a test, as I told you. It will consist on a match between you and an officer of my choosing and a shooting test. Understood?"

"Yes, just one question. Could I carry a gun, if I pass, of course?"

There was a glint in his eyes that almost made Lisbon smiled.

"If you pass with honors, you would, if you only pass then it would be the choice of your partner."

He couldn't help the smile that crept out of his face, he wanted to make a little victory dance, but he managed to control himself.

"Understood."

There was a knock on the door and Rick turned his head but since the blinds were down, he couldn't see who it was.

"Rick Castle, your trainer."

She voiced to the man, or woman, out there to enter… Safe to say, Rick's jaw was on the floor.

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><p><strong>ha ha! a little cliffhanger there :P tell me your thoughts on who the trainer might be :P i already have the name on my mind but I´ll like to know what you think! <strong>

**As always; reviews are love! **

**~AC**


	11. Trainees and movie night

**Hi all :D who is suffering from Castle withdrawal so far? raise you hands o/ **

**There was a massive blackout in my country... over 30 hours in some parts, just 22hrs for me, and it scared my muse away...So here is the new chap... i´m not too happy about it, but let me know what you think, please? **

**Disclaimer: nope, still don´t own it...=(**

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><p>"Yeah, Boss?"<p>

"Do you remember the trainee I told you about last night?"

"Yes…?" – He said while looking around Castle for some newbie in his or her twenties.

"Well, I think you know each other already, so introductions are not necessary."

"Castle?"

"Esposito?"

"I'm going to train you?"

"You're going to train me?"

They both said at unison pointing first to the other and then to themselves.

"Yes"

After hearing her voice, both of them turned their heads to her and Esposito gave her a confused look.

"Castle, wait on your chair while I talk to Detective Esposito for a moment, ok?"

"Sure, Boss." Castle said smiling; after all, he was under her orders now.

When he closed the door, Esposito still hadn't recovered from the shock.

"Boss, I don't get it; why am I training Castle?"

"So he can protect his partner as he should. I'm just giving him a way to remain here with me having a clear conscious."

Esposito gave her a nod, telling her he understood.

"You do remember your basic training course at the academy, I presume?"

"Yeah, most of it."

"Good, I also want to add a little of your military knowledge to the mix. It'll be your choice, just make sure he learns how to respond under pressure, got it?"

"Yes, ma'am, I'll take him to the gym."

"Great, you can make the schedules as you see fit."

…

Castle and Esposito were in the gym, both had changed. Esposito was wearing grey sweatpants and a grey sweater with NYPD plastered on his chest, he also was wearing a whistle and white snickers. He looked like a high school coach. Rick, on the other hand, was wearing black sweatpants and a white undershirt and black snickers.

"Ok, first thing is worm up. So; three series of 20 laps, sits up and 15 minutes on the treadmill. Then I'm going to test your physical condition and then we'll begin with some basics."

Rick nodded and went to the treadmill, followed by Esposito. He started to set the machine and Rick could see there was something on his mind.

"What's up Coach?"

"Uh? Nothing, I was just thinking 'bout the reasons you're doing this."

He motioned Rick to climb to the machine and start walking.

"You know why, Lisbon needs to have a clear conscience"

"Yeah, that's her reason, not yours"

Rick couldn't look at him, but he felt the intensity of his friend´s eyes.

"What's your reason, Castle?"

"You know my reason; she deserves someone who can protect her. If something had happened to her because I couldn't…"

He didn't have it in him to continue, not even think about the possibility of her being gone or injured. He felt a lump on his throat and focused his eyes on an invisible spot on the wall in front of him.

"You are in love with her."

It was not a question; it was a statement, which took Rick by surprise. Not because of what Esposito was saying, but because of the firmness and reassurance on his voice. The writer nodded and looked at him. It only took one word. 'Yes'. The detective's eyes showed some level of softness before going back to the intensity that they were showing before.

"I'm glad you finally admit it, and it's time you finally admit it to her."

"She's not ready yet."

"Bull, how do you know?"

"She…with all that's happened in the last two months…"

"And don't you think that letting her know how you feel is something that she needs right now? Knowing that someone loves you is never a bad thing, bro."

"She must know by now, I'm certainly not hiding it."

"Bro, you know Beckett; she can be extremely dense when she wants to. Just tell her, if she knows like you say, then, what's the harm?"

Rick let out a frustrated sigh.

"Can we just train? I need to stop thinking."

"Ok, fine. Just make sure you treat her right, or I'll kill you and Lanie will help me hide the body."

There was a hint of seriousness on his voice as well as a playful tone, which Rick was grateful for.

"Yes, sir" he responded on the same tone.

The morning was spent training.

After testing his physical condition, which by Rick´s surprise and utter delight, and Esposito's pure shock, was extremely well for a man his age and lack of exercise, they began the real training. That consisted on learning extreme basics forms of self-defense as well as exercises to get him in form and improve his cardio.

At noon they decided to end the session for the day and scheduled a daily session of two hours every morning starting Monday. Each went to take a shower and change into work clothes.

They both went to the homicide floor and Esposito went to update Lisbon on the condition of his new trainee. After leaving her office he sank on his chair while Castle sat on Ryan´s desk.

"Man, I´m hungry! Let´s go to Remy´s, my treat" said a famished writer.

"Sweet! Let´s go Espo." said a very exciting Ryan.

"Coming, bro."

They all got up and waved at Lisbon when they passed her office, she was talking on the phone but returned the greeting nonetheless.

"They just left, Becks."

_"And how did Mr. Castle did?"_

"According to Esposito, better than he had expected. Not that that´s saying much."

_"Ha! told you it was a good idea."_

"Shut up, Becks."

Jim couldn´t help to chuckle a little.

_"Ok, ok I won't tell you ´I told you so´. Oh, Katie is coming, I´ll call you later, ok?"_

"Ok, take care."

_"You too."_

She hang up. Becks could be a pain sometimes, but it was good that they had reconnected.

...

Mean time at Kate´s place, a certain Detective was giggling at her phone. Yes, giggling. Who would´ve thought?

"Dad?" she yelled from the living room. Jim was currently at her bedroom.

"Yes, sweetheart?" - He answered, after hanging up his phone.

"Do you want to go to Remy´s? Castle is inviting us for lunch with the boys."

"I´d love to."

He smiled when his daughter entered her bedroom, smiling from ear to ear.

"Let´s go then." - Said Kate.

...

Not half an hour later Both Becketts were entering Remy's and sitting on Castle's table; Kate sat next to Rick and Jim next to Esposito who was next to Ryan.

"Sorry we're late, traffic was crazy" Kate said to Castle.

"Don't worry about it. We ordered the usual, burgers and milkshake, right?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"So, Espo, how was your trainee?" - Asked Kate with a playful tone on her voice, looking at the writer next to her.

"Actually, I was shocked, he is still breathing."

"Ha ha, very funny, Coach." - Responded the trainee with a dramatic glare

"Trainee?"

"Yes, Mr. B. Castle over here is training so he can shadow your daughter as he should, and to get the new Captain out of their hair."

"Really? Well, that is good news. So, boys, what do you think of the new Captain? Katie tells me her name is Lisbon?"

Both detectives looked at each other, silently discussing how to answer, and Ryan responded.

"We actually like her. She is pleasant enough and lets us goof around when we're not on a case."

"We were worried that our boy here wouldn't be able to come back, she is very strict and by the book, but if he trains hard enough, it'll all be good." Espo chimed in

"Well, considering that Rick is not an actual cop and that the captain doesn't know any of you, she seems like a good woman." - Responded Jim.

Three detectives and a writer nodded, it seemed like Espo was going to say something but lunch arrived and they changed the subject into something less deep.

Rick hadn't wanted to think about the possibilities after Montgomery's funeral. He thought the new boss would be some Captain; scary looking, in his 60's, with a weird look on his eyes and some evil laugh, telling him he couldn't follow Kate anymore.

When he had seen Lisbon two months ago, he was relieved at first. She seemed pleasant and, yes, a little stiff. But she had kind eyes. Which is why he was shocked when he couldn't even step into the precinct without Beckett there to watch him, like he were to knowingly ruin a case or something.

Thinking back at the conversation he'd with her yesterday, a thought struck him. She'd said "it has been brought to my attention..." like if someone had convinced her that the training was a good idea, that being Beckett's partner was a good idea. Castle wondered who might it been. Kate was closed to the idea of talking to Lisbon until she was in duty and he couldn't imagine Esposito or Ryan going and talking to her. The trust wasn't there yet and Esposito had looked genuinely surprised when he was told about being Castle's coach, then whom?

He was still deep in thought when he felt a soft hand on top of his, he looked at the table, where the hands were, and was surprised to see that it was Beckett's hand on top of his. He looked at her and she had the biggest smile on her face, but she wasn't looking at him, she was looking at her father. Suddenly he began to pay attention again and heard her tell him about the mummy. '_Damn, that case is going to hunt me down until reckoning day'_, he thought, but any sense of anger or embarrassment melted away by the sight of his detective laughing. He just smiled like a fool and tried not to get caught in dreamland again.

The other three men on the table were enjoying the tale of how Beckett had found writer-monkey plastered against the floor of the elevator when they noticed that the hand Kate had patted with her on was still under her touch. Not only that, but Castle was grinning like the biggest fool in love. Reminding Ryan of how he was the first weeks after starting seeing his Jenny, which made him to slowly shake his head. Esposito on the other hand, was trying to get the writer's attention so he could mock him, but he was lost looking at Beckett. 'That poor bastard doesn't know what hit him', he thought, he was glad for his friends, apparently both had started to see the light, or at least a ray of it.

Jim wanted to know more of the stories of the precinct so both Esposito and Ryan started to tell him the craziest ones which made Kate remove her hand from Castle's and continue to eat while listening to the boys and remembering those moments. That she missed the sense of her hand in contact with Rick's, well, that was something she had finally accepted. She was getting ready to tell him how she felt, but after the surprise she had for him on Monday. It would make the day a lot more fun.

After finishing with lunch, Ryan and Esposito went back to the precinct. Rick decided to go home, not wanting to temp his luck by going to the 12th for no reason.

"Do you want to join me? Alexis will be there with Ashley and I don't want to be the third wheel, we'll watch movies and eat pizza. What do you say?"

He had his puppy eyes ready if he saw the hesitation on her face, but she just turned to look at her father, who gave her an almost imperceptible nod, turned back to Rick and nodded.

"Really? Just like that?" Said Castle with disbelieve and shock on his voice.

"Yes. We've no plans and I would love to see Alexis, it's been a while."

"Oh, I knew you just wanted to hang with me for my daughter" – he faked a pout – "that's ok, I'm use to it..."

"I think you can survive, Castle." She patted his chest lightly and went to hail for a cab.

...

They arrived at his loft roughly around three and were greeted by a happy Alexis, giving each a hug, even to Mr. Beckett. "This is a surprised, detec-kate", said the girl, smiling. "Come, I was reading while waiting for Ash, I have ice cream" She took the detective's hand and dragged her to the kitchen where there was a copy of the last Harry Potter.

"Oh, Deathly Hallows"

"I didn´t know you were a fan, Kate" said a smiling red head.

"Guilty as charged", she blushed a little, "Murder-Mystery is my favourite gender, but sometimes a little fantasy is in order."

"I totally understand that, happens to me too"

Alexis began to serve some ice cream to Kate when Rick and Jim entered the Kitchen. Alexis asked both if they wanted ice cream and began serving them as well.

Kate went to Rick and whispered: "Alexis is happier than usual"

"You noticed, uh? She gets like that when Ashley is coming." He whispered back

"Oh, yeah... love can do that to you."

Rick looked at her and was about to respond when the bell rang which caused a certain girl to almost squeal in delight and springing out of the kitchen to answer the door, which caused all three adults to laugh.

"I´m guessing Ashley is her boyfriend?" - Asked a smiling Jim.

Both Castle and Beckett nodded.

After introductions were made they all settled on the living room to watch a movie. The young couple settle for the floor and Jim for a sofa, leaving Beckett and Castle on the main couch.

They started sitting next to each other, almost no contact, but as Iron man 2 progressed, somehow Kate ended up snuggled to Rick´s chest, and Rick´s arm around Kate´s shoulders.

Through the second movie (Due date) Rick fell asleep, the training finally catching up to him, and even though Kate noticed she didn´t wake him, she wouldn´t admit it under the threat of death, but she was way too comfortable to move. When the credits were rolling Rick slowly began to wake up, but his body hurt too much for him to move, making him groan.

"Oh. My. Gosh. I can´t move."

"It´s the training, you´re not used to moving so your body is punishing you for that" responded a very amused Kate. "Plus, you shouldn´t be moving much in your old age."

"Hey! I´m not that old!"

Everyone laughed except Ashley, he knew better than to mess with his future father in law, which actually caused more laughs from the girls.

After both Alexis and Kate mocked Castle a little more they decided it was time for refreshments and went to the kitchen while the boys put the Wii console with Rock Band.

"Hey, Kate?" - Asked Alexis when they were on the kitchen.

"Yes?"

"Uhm, you know I have a concert in two weeks for school, right?"

"Yes, your father told me about it, congratulations by the way."

"Thanks. Well, after the concert there is like a gala to raise money for the charity, and I was wondering, if you weren´t busy, if you would want to come?"

To say that Kate was surprised at this was an understatement, but she was also very honoured to be asked.

"I´d love to. Alexis, thanks for inviting me."

The girl smiled and continued to gather the beverages.

The rest of the night continued with Rick rocking out on the guitar, Alexis and Kate on the mic, Ashley on the drums and to the surprise and delight of all, Jim on the bass. They ordered pizza and by 9 Ashley had to go, he had a curfew to meet. This was the cue for both Becketts to leave, too.

"Are you sure you have to leave?"

He asked her when they were cleaning up and carrying the dishes to the kitchen while Alexis and Jim were talking on the living room.

"Yes, Rick. I don´t live here, you know"

"But you can stay in my bedroom," - Beckett glare – "I-I could stay on the couch and your dad could use the guest room."

"It´d be too complicated. I´ll be fine, I´m with dad, I´m not alone."

He had that concern in his eyes and the ´ I´m not convinced´ look. He was worried about the nightmares, she could tell. And, frankly, she was worried too. She didn´t want to upset her father. But it would be worst if she had to stay, explaining him the reasons.

"I´ll call if something happens, ok?"

He considered her offer and since she had that look on her face that said: it´s my last and only offer. He accepted.

...

That night she only woke up once, not screaming, just silently crying. She felt frustrated; apparently she could only sleep if she had a certain writer next to her. That´s when it occurred to Kate. In her haste she forgot to give back the t-shirt she borrowed from Castle. After putting it she crawled back to bed and drifted off to sleep again, this time without nightmares.

Rick just woke up the next morning with cramps and sore muscles all over his body, cursing at Esposito for putting him through that and relieved that Kate hadn´t called in the middle of the night, he just hoped it was because she had had a pleasant night asleep and not because of her pride.

He lay there in his bed, thinking about the last couple of days without Kate with him 24/7. He missed her, really missed her, and they hadn´t been apart for 12 hours. He had it bad. He decided a text was in order, just to...eh...who was he kidding? He wanted to hear from her. As soon as his arm could move in order to pick up the cell from the nightstand, that is.

"_Hi, did you sleep well?"_

A few minutes later a response came.

"_Hi, I did."_

She wasn´t actually lying, she did sleep well, just after wearing his shirt... a fact he didn´t need to know. EVER.

"_Good, I´m glad :). So, what do u have planned with ur dad?"_

"_I think going to a game, lunch and idk. Do u have plans?"_

"_Trying to get out of bed without seeing starts, for one, then shopping with Alexis and Mother."_

"_You? Shopping?" _

"_Yeah, Lex needs a dress for the concert. A concert that you´re attending, right?"_

"_Alexis told me last night, I´ll be there." _

"_Good =) . Ha! I can get up! Just not walk, yet..._

"_Poor old man, should I get you a cane?"_

"_Funny =( ...mock me, in 2 months you´ll see."_

"_Is that a dare, Mr. Castle?"_

"_Eh, yes? I´ll let you know after my first lesson :D" _

"_Coward..." _

"_No, not coward just... survivor?"_

The conversation ended a little after that, each had appointments to tend to.

That weekend was kind of an unspoken agreement. She needed space, she wasn´t exactly a very clingy person, she ran away from clingy relationships, and she needed time to process the last couple of weeks and the next step. She realized the ball was in her course and that he was waiting for her to make the next move, not pressuring her, taking time. Should she be scared that he knew her so well? And why wasn´t she scared? Just, terribly happy? Right; love, but she had loved man before. Still, if they got too clingy she would feel less and less in love with them until they´d broke up... but not with Rick. She actually missed him. Ugh, so much thinking is giving me a headache, she thought, and I'm not even dating him!

...

On Monday at 7 am sharp Rick was already in the gym changing in his workout clothes when he heard steps coming his way, thinking it was Esposito he continued to remove his button down shirt.

"Hey, Coach, today you´re teaching me a few moves ri..."

All words escaped his mouth and brain when he saw a certain someone with a sexy smile and all ready to train.

* * *

><p><strong>Remember that reviews are love :D <strong>

**-AC**


	12. Rocky ain t a match for Castle

**Disclaimer: i don´t own Castle :c**

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><p>Rick stood there dumb fooled. "Ka-Beckett? What the…"<p>

"Hello partner," Said Kate with a smile.

Esposito came behind Beckett, trying his best not to laugh at Castle´s face. "Hey, Castle"

Castle looked at Espo with a confused look on his face. "Coach? Eh, you didn´t tell me we´d have and audience."

"We´re not, my girl over here is going to be your sparring partner."

"M-my what?"

"I guess it´s your time to prove just how not old you are, writer monkey."

This is just way too fun, she thought.

"E-Esposito?"

"You heard the lady. Look, I need to see how you´re doing with the techniques and I couldn´t do that properly with me fighting you…"

Kate continued with the explanation. "So, Esposito called me to ask me if I knew someone who would be willing to train a few times a week with you, and since I'm on vacation until September, I volunteered. "

Castle glared at her. "How very nice of you…I´m sure kicking my ass was sufficient incentive for you to _volunteer_."

"It might have helped in my decision, but don´t worry Ricky, I won´t be too hard on you, at first." Kate grinned at this, causing Rick to gulp and looked pleadingly at Esposito, but he just laughed and went to change into more coach like clothes.

The writer sighed and continued to remove his shirt and put on a white undershirt.

Kate was shocked, to say the least, when Castle completely removed his shirt. Yes, she knew he was hot, she wasn´t blind, but man, oh man, he was a writer, a lazy one, too. How on earth did he have those abs and arms and broad shoulders? Down, girl, she thought, the last thing you need is for writer-boy to catch you staring.

Rick was changing into his training clothes when he noticed a certain female detective staring at his chest. Oh, he wanted to grin and give her a bad time about it, but he decided to ignore the look (since his physical health basically relied on her mood) and simply continue to dress.

Five minutes later, Esposito came out of the locker room and grinned, he was going to enjoy this, and hopefully gain some money too. He had bet Ryan that Beckett could take Castle in less than a minute. Ryan had said that writer boy would last at least 2 minutes. We´ll see who is right, bro, he thought.

To his utter delight, he was right. And 20 bucks richer.

First Rick was subdued to exercise for his resistance and because, well, he was a little heavier than he should. After that, Esposito taught him some basic moves; Blocks, how to throw punches, the works. Only 30 minutes until the training ended, Beckett came into picture and a sweaty Castle gulped, he was afraid for his life, but he didn´t show it, much. Oh, they are having a field day with me, he thought. And he was right, Kate was trying very hard not to smile when she was preparing to spar, which was difficult due to his expression, it was priceless.

"Ok, Castle, Beckett here is going to attack and you´re going to try to block her with one of the moves I thought you, got it?"

He just nodded, looking at Kate.

"Beckett, don´t be too hard on the guy at first."

"Got it."

Both Castle and Beckett were facing each other in the standard fighting position, doing little jumps in place to not lose rhythm. As Kate began to move to his left, in a circling motion, he began to move to the opposite side, creating an invisible circle. She was deciding how to surprise him, without hurting him much, and he was trying to notice every subtle change in her posture to prevent the attack. Unfortunately, for him, she was as fast as lighting. Before he knew it, a fist was coming to his stomach, it was an upper cut punch, and he felt as his breath left his body, bending down and putting his hands on his knees and breathing.

"Way to go, Beckett."

"Yeah…nice one," Came the raged reply of Rick.

Round 2 was a little more even, he avoided the first punch, a side one straight to the face, blocking it with his upper arm, but just as he thought he was safe, a second blow hit him directly on the jaw, causing him to back down a few steps, holding his jaw and massaging it with his glovedhand.

"Ow! Beckett, remember I'm new at this."

"Man up, Castle, I didn´t hit you that hard."

"Tell that to my jaw. I feel bad now for the guys you chase, damn, talk about sympathy for the bad guy."

Kate just rolled her eyes. She didn´t hit him THAT hard after all, right?

The next 30 minutes were like witnessing payback for all the times Castle was annoying, unhelpful and just, well, Castle. Even thought he was improving, rather quickly. Well, he had to if he wanted to survive.

The blows were below the face, Castle didn´t want to worry Alexis if she saw him with a purple and swallowed face, which made Kate roll her eyes yet again. Such a drama queen, she thought. But inside she was smiling at his crazy logics and worries for his daughter.

At the end, Rick managed to stop all of Kate´s punches; actually, just two of them, but his ego was down enough to be reminded of that.

All four of them were in the bull pen after a shower (separately!) and changing into work clothes, well, for Esposito, anyway.

"Ah! I can´t believe it´s almost ten already! And I haven´t had my first coffee yet," Said Rick after sitting on his usual chair.

"Me either," Responded Beckett, sitting on her desk.

"Sorry about that, I didn´t know you were going to kick my ass today, I mean, come by."

"Don´t need to apologize, Rick."

"Hi, captain," Greeted Kate when she saw Lisbon walking by the boys' desk.

"Detective Beckett, Mr. Castle," Said Lisbon, in a way of greeting.

"Hi, boss, how are you this fine morning?" responded Castle.

"I´m good, and, you two? Uh, Castle, you might want to put some ice on the jaw there."

"Oh, it´ll be fine."

"I take training is going well, Esposito?"

"Oh yeah, having Beckett to train with him was a very good idea Cap, it´s easier to correct the man that way."

"Good, just try not to kill the man before the test, ok Beckett?"

"Oh, don´t worry Captain, he won´t die."

The way she said those words, made Castle squirm. The things you do for love, he thought. Mentally sighing.

…

At the break room, both Castle and Beckett were making coffee before leaving when Castle spoke up.

"You were getting revenge, right?"

"Me? What for?"

"Don´t play innocent with me, detective."

"Ok, maybe a little. But it´s good for you that I'm not a softy, it gives the training a sort of real ring to it."

"Right, tell that to my body. If I thought Friday was bad, I can´t even imagine tomorrow, I'll have bruises within the bruises!"

"Don´t be such a baby, Castle."

"Just saying…So, are you sparring with me every day?"

"No, just three or four times a week, I'm on vacation after all."

"Good point. Uh, Kate?"

He was nervous, why was he nervous? Oh, yeah, the big question. Oh damn. Sure, the ball was in her court, and yes he was waiting on her to make the next move, but seriously…a little push couldn´t hurt, right? After all, she was kind of dense and stubborn when she wanted to be.

"Yeah?"

"Did you know that they´re playing the first star wars movie at the Angelica on Friday?"

"Really? I didn´t know." She could almost hear Lanie´s voice saying something in the likes of. "Of course, play dumb and make him suffer, girl…not cool"

"Uh-hu, and since you´re on vacations and I, well, Alexis ditched me for Ashley…Maybe we could go?"

"Castle…Are you asking me out on a date?" Yes, this is my way to make a move, pick it up Ricky, she thought.

"Ah, eh, if you want it to be, or just friends, after all you owe me for almost scaring this ruggedly handsome face." He wiggled his eyebrows at this.

"Such a drama queen Castle," she couldn´t help to roll her eyes, it was like a second nature to his comments, "…I'd love to go…as your date."

"Really?" His tone adopted a very high pitch, "I mean," he coughed, clearing his throat, "yeah, Ok, I´ll pick you up at your place at 7?"

"7 it is."

And as fast as she came, she left, leaving a grinning fool behind -Happiest grinning fool in history, I might add -. He had had the nerve to invite Kate Beckett on a date and she´d said yes. After making sure that nobody was around, he made a fist pump in the air and whispered: "Yes!" of course, the boys saw him, and after witnessing Kate leaving with a smile on her face, they knew.

"We have to pay Lanie…"

"Yeah, bro…how is that she always wins the pools?"

"That´s a woman´s sixth sense, man."

"Yeah," responded Esposito, shaking his head in surrender.

….

The days continued without any breaking news. Lanie had a new purse that she refused to acknowledge to Kate where she had gotten it from, so Kate just assumed it was from Esposito. –which it kind of was, giving the bet and all, but anyhow…- Rick was getting better and better incredibly fast, which was a surprise for all, he even beat Beckett fair and square, leaving her on the ground and all. For the sake of their date, a thought he was still having problems getting his head around, he didn´t gloat, much.

Thursday was the freaking out day for Kate...

"Hi, Lanie…"

"Hey, girl, what are you doing here? Shouldn´t you be relaxing and all of that luxury that comes with vacations?"

"Yeah, but I needed to talk to you about something"

Oh, oh…if she is having second thoughts about writer boy, so help me god…, Lanie thought.

"Spill," said the ME with a smile.

"Well, on Monday…Ri-Castle, invited me to the movies."

"Yeah, so?"

"Like on a date…"

"Do tell…"

Lanie felt like on a mine field; a wrong move a so long relationship with Castle.

Kate told her the whole conversation that took place a few days ago and their interactions ever since. That writer was a hopeless romantic, every day since Monday there was a single rose on her doorstep with a note. Each note read a quote from the first Star Wars and a little side note from Rick. They´d talk like they normally did and for about half an hour every night and had brunch the days she came sparring with him, meaning Tuesday and Wednesday. Lanie was impressed; Castle was being sweet and obviously making her girl happy. She would have to warn him about possible body harm if he hurt her, but other than that, he was Ok in her book.

"So...what do you think?"

Her response was a bear hug. "I´m so glad for you, girl, you´re practically irradiating happiness right now."

"No, I'm not!"

"Oh, yes you´re, believe you me… I haven´t seen you this happy since… hell, since I've known you!"

That earned her a roll of eyes in combination with a ´it´s not true´ look.

"Ok, so, let´s say I'm happy, but I mean, we haven´t even started dating…is it normal to feel like this?"

"Like, how?"

"Butterflies in my stomach every time I see him, hear him or even when I get a text from him! I feel like a freaking teenager!"

Now it was Lanie´s time to roll her eyes. "Come on girl, you love the man and he asked you out on a freaking date! And it´s obvious he loves you too, of course you´re feeling like a freaking teenager, you´re head over heels in love with him."

Damn, Lanie always has a way to zap me back to reality, Kate thought.

"Ok, you´re right, I know you´re. But, I mean, what if it doesn´t work? I couldn´t lose him. "

"It will work! You guys are meant for each other. The guy flew to Minnesota when you called in the middle of the night and you didn´t even ask him to go. He just knew that's what you needed."

"I…you…I mean…," she sighed and hung her head. Her friend was right, as usual, "You´re right."

"I know," she gave her that smug grin that reminded Kate of Castle after their first case. She hated that smile. "Just have fun, you trust Castle and it´s just a movie, right? How bad could it be?"

She took a deep breath and agreed with her best friend. After a hug and a promise of a call for updates, Kate left feeling more relaxed and confident about her date with Rick. Date, even saying it sounded odd. But the kind of odd that made the butterflies in her stomach go wild and the smile on her face to bloom unconsciously.

…

Alexis Castle was in the kitchen chatting with Ashley when her dad waltzes in to get a bottle of water. He was whistling. She should be surprised or even ask him why he was that chipper when he should be in pain from all that training. But she knew the reason, and seeing him that happy made her want to smile. She still remembered Monday night when she got home from Paige´s and saw her dad with a bruise on his jaw and smiling.

_Alexis said, while gently caressing his jaw. "Dad! What happened?"_

"_Oh, this? Beckett."_

"_Dad, what did you do?"_

"_Me! Nothing," she gave him her best incredulous look, putting both hands on her hip, "I swear! Turns out she volunteered to be my sparring buddy a few times a week and I got distracted and well, it´s a battle scar" his smile got wider. _

"_She was getting payback for annoying her so much, right?"_

_He chuckled. "Yeah, I deserved it."_

_She sat next to him on the couch and he put an arm around her._

"_So, what´s got you grinning like if Christmas would come twice this year?"_

"_Oh, wouldn´t that be great?" responded and looked at her with a new light in his eyes. _

"_Dad, focus!"_

"_Sorry! Well, I asked Kate to the movies on Friday. _

"_Ok…"_

"_On a date…"_

"_OH MY GOSH, Dad! Finally!" She hugged him and let out a little squeal of excitement. _

_He asked, after hugging her back. "What do you mean, finally?"_

"_Well, you've been in love with her, that you know of, for how long? Six months?"_

"_Oh, yeah…I see what you mean. So, you´re ok with me seeing Kate?"_

"_Of course! It's a relieved, actually. Now when I go to college, I won´t have to worry that much about you. I can trust that Detective Beckett will be there to look out for you and keep you in line." _

"_Yeah, I hope so, too."_

_After a brief silence Alexis got up. "This deserves some celebration ice cream, which flavor?"_

"_Cherries," said Rick, smiling._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Ok, i´m nervous about this D: please let me know what you think? aaaand any romantic fluffy ideas for the first date, besides the movies, are welcomed :D **

**Happy Monday :D **

**Love,**

**AC**


	13. The big bangI mean, date

**Disclaimer: nope...still don´t own it... :c**

* * *

><p>It's Friday and one writer in the big apple is so excited that he was up at 5 a.m. and at the precinct at 6:30 a.m. waiting for Esposito. The last day of sparring had left him with a couple of sore muscles but nothing too severe. Thankfully the bruise on his jaw was almost nonexistent; he wanted to look his best for Kate.<p>

He was getting impatient, too nervous and exited all at the same time. He had already changed onto his sweats, so he went to the treadmill and began to run. He almost fell twice, given his powerful imagination; he was picturing all the ways the date could go and forgot to keep moving his feet. Maybe a sweet kiss at the end, walking her to her door, making sure she was save before leaving, with the promise of another date soon enough. Perhaps she would invite him in for a drink and then…No, too soon. If he was going to be with Kate, he was going to do it right, no rush, not with her; she deserved much better than that.

Finally, at 7:05 a.m. Esposito arrived at the gym and was surprised to see Castle covered in sweat and running at the treadmill like there was no tomorrow with a dreamy look on his face. He went to the lockers and changed, deciding he was going to have a little fun with his friend.

"Yo, Castle!" He shouted and grinned when Castle almost fell, again.

Rick climbed down of the apparatus and took deep breaths to reduce his heart beat and to recover from the scare the detective had given him.

When he could breathe normally again he responded. "Well, hello coach, how are you this fine morning?"

"I'm good, you? Apparently someone is anxious to work out this morning. I wonder why, do you think is because you might be nervous?"

"Who? Me? Nah," he dismissed him nonchalantly with a wave of his right hand, "I just had a lot of energy, you know?"

"Right, right, 'Cause a little birdie told me about a movie night you had tonight. With a certain detective, no less."

Damn it, Lanie, Castle thought, ok, play dumb, it's not that hard.

"I don't recall inviting Ryan to my place tonight."

"Man! That's… don't play dumb with me, Castle. We know about your date with Beckett tonight."

So close…, Rick thought.

"What date? And, who is we?"

"You know what? Fine, don't tell me. It's not like I'm your pal or anything…"

"You're my friend, but really there is no date. I'm going out with her, but just to the movies, as friends. Like when she took me to the Angelica to watch forbidden planet, nothing else." Kind of a lie…but if I want to live I have to, he thought.

Esposito knew he was lying, hell, he had seen the fist pump and he was a detective…plus, Lanie had told him…But, knowing how private person Beckett is, she must not want to know that we know, which is why this guy here is playing dumb with me, he is afraid of screwing things up. Good boy, Castle. Ok, I'll be good today, he analyzed in his mind.

"Fine, Castle, I believe you. Let's train, today you'll learn different kinds of locks and you'll practice them with Beckett on Monday, got it?"

"Yeah."

As they trained Rick was a little less nervous, the exercise helped him not to think about the night, but he was having trouble concentrating on learning the moves.

"Come on, bro. It´s 3 simple steps. What´s on your mind?"

"Sorry, yesterday Gina was bickering about the fourth Nikki Heat and she told me to have a line up by Monday and I still have nothing." Ok, so that was part lie; she was bickering but I had a few weeks to deliver the first couple of chapters and already had a story in mind.

"Uh, not good Bro. Never piss off the publisher."

"You know, I know that, but somehow I always end up doing it anyway."

"You´ll never learn."

"Nope." He grinned at this.

…

On the other side of town, Beckett was barely dripping into the consciousworld when the day hit her. The date! It was today, in a matter of hours. She opened her eyes a little too fast and was hit by the light of the sun coming from her window. She groaned and checked the clock, it read 9 a.m., Rick must be finishing his training about now, she thought. When she realized what she was thinking she plopped down to bed again with an exasperating sigh. She had fallen hard for him. After the talk she´d had with Lanie yesterday she´d realized she wasn´t too scared anymore. This was what she wanted.

With a smile on her face she got up to get ready for her day. She smiled again when she checked her cell phone to find a text from Rick that read:

"_I learned 3 blocks today! You´ll see on Monday ;) Oh, btw… Esposito knew about our date…"_

Before she read the rest of the text she was calling him.

"Good morning, Detective, slept well?"

"Hey Castle, yeah, great, you?" She really tried to sound casual, but who was she kidding?

"What´s wrong Kate?"

She let out a sigh. "I read your text, Esposito knows?"

"Ah, you didn´t read the whole thing, did you?"

"Huh?"

"Well, I told Esposito that we were going to the movies, just as friends, like when we went to see forbidden planet."

"You did?" she couldn´t help to sound incredulous.

"Yeah…I wasn´t sure that you would want the boys to know that we…uh… were going on a date…"

"Oh, yeah, you´re right. I mean, I want them to know about us when there is more to tell."

"Is there going to be more to tell?" She could feel the smile on his voice, which made her smile, but she wouldn´t be Beckett if she got him off that easily, now, could she?

"We´ll see, Castle." She had her detective voice; but that couldn´t fool his Beckett trained ears.

"I´ll let you get ready for your day; I'll be picking you up at seven, Kate."

"Ok, see ya, Castle."

And with that she hanged up.

…

6:55 p.m. according to Castle´s iphone. He always was on time when it came to something important; it showed his interest and care. And today was very, very, extremely important. So he had been waiting on her door for a little over 15 minutes, trying to regain his thoughts on his plan and trying not to feel like he was 15 and on his first date.

6:59 p.m. Ok, good enough, he thought. He knocked twice and waited. When the door flung open he felt his heart stop. The sight of her was breath taking. She was wearing a loose V-neck, long sleeved, cotton, dark green shirt that made her eyes shine. Dark jeans, black 4 inch heels and her hair; perfectly curled, falling on her shoulders, the chestnut curls with honey rays perfectly framing her face. It was a sight that would take any man´s breath away. His breath was gone and he was certain he would not be able to form a simple word for the evening.

She felt her cheeks start to blush, the way he was looking at her, like he was seeing one of the eight wonders. And wow, when he cleaned up, he cleaned up nice. He was wearing a simple long sleeved black sweater that accentuated his beautiful baby blue eyes, a leatherish jacket she recognized from a few years ago when he wore it to the precint once. She would never tell anyone this, but she loved how it looked on him. Dark blue jeans and his dark brownish hair was adorably messed up. She secretly liked his hair like that, he looked cute and she had to fight every nerve in her body to stop from running a hand through it.

He mentally rebooted himself and was able to offer her a smile.

"You look...beautiful, Kate" he said, she blushed and he grinned.

"I know you didn´t receive a rose today, so I wanted to make it up to you." He said as he handed her a bouquet of different kind of flowers. They formed a perfect mix of beautiful and colorful.

She took them with a smile and invited him to come in while she poured them in water.

He really expected her not to know about flower symbolisms but he had to tell her in some level how he felt about her, for in the bouquet were a combination of magnolias, which represented the beauty and feminine delicacy. A rare shade of fuchsia fleur-de-lis, which represented truth, wisdom and courage. Those flowers represented how he saw her; like the most beautiful creature God ever created, even if she didn´t know it herself. The fleur-de-lis represented her believes, her heart, her hunger for justice and truth that made her such a good detective. Her intelligence, that came in handy when they were solving the weirdest cases and challenged him with her witty responses on a daily basis. The courage she had to chase down criminals, come face to face with cold blooded killers and wake up knowing that her mother´s assassin was still free and was still taking loved ones from innocents. That´s how he saw her, she truly was extraordinary.

The other two kinds were how he felt about her. At first he wasn´t sure about the jasmine and the sunflower; both represented love. The jasmine was given to married couples. The sunflower; according to Greek mythology, Clita was a girl that was madly in love with Apollo, one of the Olympian deities. Her love was so great that she forgot to eat or drink any food, at which point her body started to grow roots and she became a sunflower. It represented passion. He felt like Clita, his love for her was so great that if it wasn´t for the will to stay alive to be next to her, he would forget how to breath just staring at her beautiful frame all day. He knew he would marry her some day, maybe not now, but soon. He had known since the case with the magician. He had found the magic he was looking for, and it was right in front of him all that time. But now that he´d found it, he wasn´t letting go, never.

He snapped out of his reverie when he heard her steps. He smiled at her and offered his arm, which she took after grabbing her purse and jacket and closing the door behind them.

"The flowers are really beautiful, Rick, thank you."

"No need to thank me."

"Which ones were the white ones? I didn´t recognize them."

"Magnolias, they represent the feminine beauty, so, of course I thought of you when I saw them."

She blushed, how could she not? When his voice was pure honesty and his eyes looked into her soul. She hid her face with her hair trying to hide the reddish spots on her cheeks. He was hypnotized by the sight of her, so mesmerized, in fact, that he didn´t noticed the wall in front of him until was a little too late...and he hit his head.

"Ow! Don´t laugh, it hurts." He whined while rubbing his forehead with his hand.

"Don´t be such a baby, Castle, it was funny, and how could you not see the wall?"

When he recuperated from the slam, he looked into her eyes and said. "I was distracted by those adorable red spots on your cheeks."

Now she was all kinds of red and he was trying really hard not to chuckle at her cuteness. She was adorable, but she could still kick his ass any day of the week.

She playfully wacked his arm before taking it and keep walking to the elevator.

The movie was starting at 7:30 p.m. which gave them enough time to buy pop-corn, candy and sodas. Rick told Kate to wait in line while he bought the food. Of course, he bought what looked like the whole store, but had the biggest grin on his face, so she just scolded him a little.

During the movie, Rick wasn´t exactly paying attention to it. He had seen it a thousand times and the view on his left was far more interesting. Of course, knowing her, she would suspect something was up if he went quiet for more than a minute, so he brought up silly remarks, comments and little known facts about the production every now and then.

She knew he was not paying attention to the movie. After three years of knowing him she had developed this 6th sense and just knew when he was staring at her, even if it was on his peripheral vision. But she didn´t mind much, and thought it was funny when he threw in some conversation to pretend he was watching it, even if he messed up coordinating his comments with the scene that was playing at the moment.

"How about some pizza?" He asked her when they left the theatre and were walking on the streets of New York.

"After the case with the oven, pizza just wasn´t the same for me anymore."

He made a disgust face that made her smile. "You´re right, just don´t remind me of that particular case, I happen to love pizza, just not as much as before."

"I´ll take note, this information will come in handy when you´re not being helpful at work."

"Hey! When I'm not help full?" She gave him an incredulous look, "Wait, scratch that, when I'm not help full when it matters?"

"Touché. So, if not pizza, what?"

"Remy´s?"

"Sounds great."

They walked towards their new destination and headed to Remy´s, they were walking really close to each other, brushing each other´s hand every couple of steps. There was a comfortable silence between them and before he knew it, she was intertwining her fingers with his. He felt his heart pound ten times faster and she squeezed his hand and looked up at him, smiling. He smiled back and they fell into a light conversation, enjoying each other´s touch.

They went to Remy´s and after indicating the hostess for a table, Rick excused himself for a moment. He was making a little change in his plan. When he came back there as a tall figure blocking Kate. A figure he knew too well. He started seeing red but reminded himself that he couldn´t ruin this, so he took two deep breaths and went over to them.

"Is our table ready, Kate? Oh, hi Josh." He said, showing his best hypocritical smile and offering his hand for a handshake, which Josh ignored.

"Castle." Josh responded with a cold tone before looking back at Kate.

Kate was exasperated, irritated and annoyed. Who knew her ex would be getting out of Remy´s with his buddies? A little too intoxicated if she had any say in the matter. She was extremely relieved to see Castle approaching her, but when Josh responded in that matter, something inside her made her blood boil.

"So, Kate, I was thinking, I know we ended up not too well, but I miss you and..."

Castle was about to speak when Kate put her hand on his and shook her head no, which Josh took it as a incentive, flashing his best charming smile.

"What do you say, baby? Let´s give it another try."

"Excuse me, _Josh_, but in case you didn´t notice I'm about to continue my _date _with Rick here." Said Kate. Emphasizing the word date and almost saying his name like it was a curse.

"Him? Seriously, Kate, I thought you were smarter than that."

That was it, he could insult him all he wanted, but hell would freeze over before he´d let that poor excuse for human being insult his Kate.

"Hey, insult me all you want, Dr. Motorcycle boy, but don´t you ever question Kate, got it?" He said while poking him on the shoulder

"Don´t touch me." Said Josh, as he slapped Castle´s finger away from his body.

"I´ll touch you if I want to, it´s a free country the last time I checked." Castle responded as he poked him again.

"That´s it." Said a now angry Josh.

Everything came in slow motion. Kate saw how Josh´s fist clenched and his arm flew backwards, gaining impulse to punch the life out of Rick, her Rick. Oh, hell no. She was about to step in and stop him when she felt a light tug on her hand. In that moment, Castle, with incredible reflexes, avoided the punch, grabbed Josh´s wrist and in a swift move dragged his arm toward the man´s back and used his other hand to drag the doctor´s other arm behind his back, assembling an arrested position, much like Kate´s.

"I was going to show you this on Monday, but the situation presented itself." Said the writer without even breaking a sweat, showing off his most charming smile.

Kate smiled at him, grabbed Josh and shoved him into the street. "Don´t bother me again, got it?" she said before going back to Rick´s side and leaving a very confused and hurt doctor on the sidewalk.

After sitting on their table, Kate noticed Rick wasn´t meeting her eyes, he almost looked ashamed. Not the cocky ´I beated someone and survived´ expression she would expect from him. Kate was actually surprised at the speed of Rick´s movements, as if he had been training for months, not days, but she felt a new kind of safe and couldn´t help to feel a little turn on at his will to step in for her and defend her.

"Kate...I´m sorry."

"Sorry? What for?"

"For the scene I caused. I don´t know what came over me, I shouldn´t have provoked him, I'm sorry for ruining our first date." He looked down at his hands, feeling his ears turn hot and red of shame.

"Hey, Castle, Rick, look at me." She placed her hand on top of both of his, which made him look up at her. He didn´t see anger on her eyes, which made him relax a little. "Don´t be sorry, you didn´t ruin anything. He was drunk and made a pass at me in your presence, he insulted me and he tried to punch you. And, if you tell this to anyone I will shoot you, but you made me feel protected, and I kind of liked that feeling." It was her time to blush now and his time to grin.

"Really?"

"Yes, just don´t get used to it. I am capable of taking care of myself."

"Oh, don´t I know that, I just wanted to show you the moves I learned today."

"Right, right."

"Did you see how I blocked him? pretty good, right?"

Now, there was the 9 year old she´d known and loved, she thought. "Yes, Castle, very impressive." She said in a patronizing tone.

"Thanks, I learned from the best." He winked at her and they continued to eat.

The rest of the meal was uneventful; they ate and talked about everything and nothing. They never talked about work, never was an awkward pause between them, they laughed and joked. Just like always, except for the little changes; the intense gazes that lasted longer than before, the not so subtle flattery, sometimes Kate would feed Rick a fry and would smudge his mouth with sauce, which made them both laugh.

As they headed out, holding hands, Kate saw an antique car waiting in front of Remy´s, she was sure it wasn´t there the first time they walked in. It was an old model, maybe from the 60´s, but it looked well preserved and actually brand new. The doors and hood were pained burgundy and the roof and wheels were black. It was beautiful.

"Wow, it´s been a while since I saw one of those."

"Do you like it?"

"Yes, my father was a fan of antique cars. He passed that love to me, I guess."

Letting go of her hand, he approached the vehicle and opened one of the back doors and with a flourish motion he signalled her to come in.

"Your carriage awaits, Miss."

"Why am I not surprised?" She said while taking his hand and getting inside, followed by him.

"You know me that well?" He asked after letting the driver know he could start the car.

"Maybe, where did you get this?"

"Oh, I know a guy...No, seriously, there are companies that rent these types of cars. Don´t worry, I didn't use my name, no page 6 to worry about." She visible relaxed at this and grabbed his hand. "Thank you," she said, really meaning it.

After about 15 minutes the sensed the car came to a stop and the door opened on Kate´s side. An older man dressed as a chuffer offered his hand and she took it and got out of the car, followed closely by Rick. "Thank you John, that´d be all."

"You´re welcome, Mr. Storm, have a good evening Miss." He shook Rick´s hand and kissed the back of Kate´s.

They were at Central Park.

After John left, she looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Storm? Really?"

"Rook would be too obvious." He grinned. "Follow me, Miss."

"Where are you taking me, Castle?"

"Oh, just a little place I found years ago when Alexis got lost on me. She was 8, she wanted ice cream and I told her I would get her some, so she stayed on the spot while I went to the ice-cream man. When I went back to where she was suppose to be, she wasn´t there." He held Kate´s hand tighter and she squeezed back. "Turns out her ball had wandered off and she followed it. That was the scariest day of my life, but in return I found this little place. Here."

It reminded her of his little thinking place at Minnesota. There was a little pond, a couple of wooden benches, the stars weren´t as bright or as many as in Minnesota, but the city lights and the life that was New York City made the water shine.

"It´s beautiful, how do you always end up finding these places?"

"Just lucky, I guess." They sat at one of the benches, admiring the view.

He took her here to tell her he wanted more, much more of her than just friends, that he was here for the long haul, always, that he loved her. But he was scared; scared of pushing her away, of being rejected, of losing her. He had to be brave. He wasn't willing to let this opportunity go, like many others.

She was nervous, she was going to tell him how she felt. If she had doubts in the pass, those were gone. The evening had been perfect, even their encounter with Josh had been another eye opener; the way he had defend her, even if he didn´t need to, just because it was his job, no, because he wanted to. He was her partner in every way but one. Soon that would change.

She just didn´t know where to start. She wanted to say so many things, share so many feelings. She remembered something her mother once told her about an essay she had to fill for college. She was worried that it wasn´t long enough, that it didn´t explain enough. Johanna just told her: Sometimes, Katie, less is more. And with that, she knew what she had to do.

"Rick."

"Kate."

They both said at unison, which made them smile.

"Ladies first."

"I really don´t know how to say this, because, well, you know me... I'm not big with words or expressing my feelings. So I'm just going to say it and we´ll go from there, ok?"

He nodded, feeling his heart pounding hard on his chest. Silence started to fill the space and he began to worry, her next words were spoken almost in a whisper, as if they pushed out.

"I love you."

He froze. She had said it, had he heard her right? Did she actually say...? No, he must have heart wrong, it couldn´t be. Nothing was ever that easy with them. Then, of course, he had tried a couple of months ago...Oh, wait, I haven´t said anything. I'm going to scare her away, move your body, Ricky, come on, brain, work! He thought.

His body finally kicked it and a huge smile appeared on his face, his eyes shined more that the city lights and he hugged her, burring his face on her hair, taking her by surprise when he got up still hugging her and spun her around a couple of times, making her giggle. He stopped and put her down on the ground, not letting her go of his embrace.

"Are you serious? You´re not playing me?"

"I'm serious."

"I can´t tell you how happy you´ve made me. You know that I love you, right? So much, Kate."

"Now I know for sure." She could help to smile. She felt so happy.

He leaned in and she met him half way. It was a sweet kiss, full of love and promises, a bit playful too, just as their relationship. The kiss started to deepen, and after what seemed like hours, but not long enough, air became a necessity and they parted, still not letting go of their embrace, foreheads together, breaths mingling and equally huge grins on their faces.

After what seemed forever, they sat on the bench. His arm was around her shoulders and she was snuggled against his side, an arm around his waist. They talked for a while, clearing the air about everything; last summer, Demming, Josh, Gina. She even told him about the letter and what happened in L.A. It was all cleared now. It was funny, all those misunderstandings and bad timing had let them to the last couple of months, to their time in Minnesota. At the end, everything had had perfect timing, for they weren´t ready before today.

They slowly walked back to her apartment, not really wanting the night to be over. When they reached her door, he cupped her face with one hand while the other rested on her waist, pulling her close, he kissed her good night. "Sleep well, Detective." He said when he pulled away.

He was about to leave when she grabbed his hand and told him to stay. He looked sweetly at her and slowly shook his head. "If we´re going to do this, we´re going to do this right. No rushing, no pressure, you deserve it, Kate."

She smiled in response; he was really a wonderful man. "As much as I hate to admit it, you´re right, we should wait. I was suggesting sleeping, I...it hasn´t been easy"

"Oh, Kate, why didn´t you tell me?"

"I needed the space to think about us."

He hugged her tightly and took her hand as she unlocked the door and let him to her bedroom. That room was very simply decorated, but with a touch that screamed ´Kate´. There were a few paintings on the walls. The room was painted in a light greyish tone. He saw the box with a picture of her parents on the top on her dresser; where she kept her father´s watch and her mother´s ring. She grabbed a few items of cloth and went to the bathroom to change, leaving him in her bedroom, alone. Now, that was trust, he thought. He hung his jacket on a chair next to the bed and took off his sweater and jeans, folding and putting them on the chair, leaving him on his boxers and a white undershirt. He sat on the bed, waiting for her, taking in every detail and sending Alexis a text announcing he wouldn´t be home.

A few minutes later, Kate came out wearing an oversized white t-shirt with snoopy in the front and a pair of shorts. She wasn´t wearying any make-up and even thought he had seen her like this on Minnesota, he still was left breathless at the sight of her. She looked beautiful, he didn´t even know why she bothered with make-up, and she looked adorable with that snoopy over shirt. She turned off the lights while he turned on the bedside lamp. He held up a hand and she took it, settling on the bed. Not like other times before, where he didn´t know what to do with himself, he wrapped his arms around her and she placed her head on his chest, listening to his heart beat, wrapping an arm around his mid section. He turned off the lamp and kissed her on the top of her head whispering I love you, before holding her tighter for a moment. She said "I love you, too" and kissed his chest before closing her eyes and drifting to sleep. That night, for the first time in a long, long time, she didn´t have any nightmares or numb sleep. She dreamed about how her future might look with a certain writer with her. She slept with a smile on her face.

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><p><strong>Hi! i´m really, really nervous about this chapter... since it was the big bang kind of thing... I hope I did justice to the characters and... about the talk they had... since there has been so many stories covering last summer and gina and all of that... i felt like it would feel like a broken record, but if you want to i could bring a flashback to that moment or something...it´s up to you! please let me know your thoughts! i think i´ve never written a chapter this long in forever...<strong>

**Another thing! thank you soooo much for all the reviews, favourites and alerts you´ve left me! i has inspire me to write even more...as you can see by the lenght of this one xD  
><strong>

**Remember Reviews are love :D ;)  
><strong>

**-AC**


	14. The aftermath

**14 chapters... wow... and this one didn't want to end either xD hope you guys like it!**

**Disclaimer: nope... 40k + words later and i still don´t own them... weird, huh?**

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><p>The sun was shining through the window, hurting the eyes of a certain detective. She stirred 180 degrees and felt the breath of her writer. She smiled. Yesterday hadn´t been a dream, she really had told him she loved him, and he´d said it back. That thought made the butterflies in her stomach to fly freely. She remember their kiss at Central Park; best. Kiss. Ever, without a doubt. She finally opened her eyes at took a look at her boyfriend, he looked 10 years younger when he was like this; no concerns or stress on his features, just a small smile on his lips. A smile that was currently growing, he was awake.<p>

"I thought you said watching someone sleep was creepy," he mumbled, still with closed eyes.

"I did, but that was different."

She remembered the first time she´d said that. It was in Minnesota, the last week they´ve spent there. Usually, he was out of bed before she was, making breakfast, but that morning he had stayed watching her sleep.

"_That´s creepy, Castle."_

"_I do it all the time at the precinct."_

"_And I always say it´s creepy."_

"_Can´t help it," He grinned, she rolled her eyes and got up to make breakfast. _

"How?" his voice brought her back to the present.

"I say so."

"I can work with that," he smiled and leaned in, kissing her lightly on the lips, "good morning, beautiful"

"Good morning."

Instead of getting out of bed, she curled up even more next to him which made him chuckle. "Someone doesn´t want to get up"

"It's comfy here," he wrapped one arm around her and settled for another little nap.

About…some time later, she couldn´t really tell, she smelled something good coming from the kitchen and didn´t feel him next to her. She reluctantly got up and glanced at her phone; no missing calls or texts, meaning no body, and it was a quarter after 9 a.m.

She lazily padded to the kitchen and was gladly surprised to find her writer on the kitchen making omelets with cheese, if her nose was correct. He looked very comfortable there, like he had cooked there for years and not just twice. Well, once, the first time was not in this apartment, but the kitchen was fairly similar.

She smiled as she came closer to where he was and wrapped both arms around his middle from behind which surprisingly didn´t startle him.

"Slept well?" he asked after turning off the stove and turning around to face her, hold her and give her a kiss on the forehead.

"I did, you didn´t have to make breakfast."

"Yes, I did. It´s our little tradition."

She raised an eyebrow. "It is?"

"It is. Every time, since we´ve known each other, that I've spent the night sleeping next to you or in your apartment, I've made breakfast."

"I haven´t realized, thank you."

"My pleasure," he gave her a sweet kiss before losing his embrace, "Now, let´s eat my famous omelets before they get cold."

They sat next to each other after serving breakfast and coffee, and ate in comfortable silence, stealing glances at one another. After they ate breakfast each took a shower and Kate convinced Rick to spend some time with his daughter, since she had a lunch meeting with his dad, with the promise of movie night at his place.

Now that she was alone in her apartment she had time to analyze every single thing that happened the night before while she got a shower and dressed. She still couldn´t believe she was the first to say those three little words, she always thought she would be saying the ´too´ part, but honestly after having stopped him the night before she left for the cabin she shouldn´t have been that surprised. Still, she felt like a weight was lifted from her shoulders, and knowing he felt the same made it all the better.

Another thing that shocked her, and honestly turned her on more than she would care to admit, was the josh incident. She had never seen josh so much as tipsy in the months they´d dated and it surprised her to smell the alcohol in his breath, but when she did see him was after or before a shift so alcohol wasn´t a currency except for the occasional wine. And she knew he was jealous of Castle; it was cause of many fights and spats over those months, but to the point of hitting him? That was new. It was a little reassuring to know that Castle could manage himself better than before, she would have to thank Esposito for that.

The little details were the things that warmed her heart the most; the flowers, the car ride to central park, his secret spot that now was theirs. It had indeed being a perfect date.

Her dreamy state was interrupted by a buzz coming from her BlackBerry indicating a text from Lanie, it read: "_Girl! I´m picking you up at 12 if writer boy isn´t there, we need some girl time ;)" _Kate rolled her eyes but couldn´t help to smile. "_Pick me up, we´ll go for coffee, I already had breakfast_" not a minute later, Lanie responded. "_With Castle :O? if you´re decent, I'm picking you up right now!"_ _"Impatient much? Ok, I'm actually ready now"_ Not 15 minutes later there was a knock on the door.

"Hi, Lanie," she greeted her warmly with a hug.

"Hey, Girl. Let me look at you." She looked at Kate from head to toe, like analyzing some important piece of evidence and then nodded, approvingly.

"What?"

"You look happy, I take writer boy and you had a good date?"

"It was nice." She responded, while thinking. Don´t blush, don´t blush.

"You´re blushing. Dish."

Damn.

"Ok, fine. Let´s sit. And you cannot tell Esposito, not yet, got it?"

"Understood."

Kate told her best friend everything, from the movie to Josh, Central Park and breakfast. Lanie almost had a heart attack twice and thought she was going to have a stroke at the ´I love you´ part. "Wait, wait, wait let me get this straight," she said after hearing the whole story. "You told him you loved him, kudos for that by the way, he told you he loved you back and you just slept together, as in sleep sleep."

"Basically, yes. He told me he didn´t want to mess this up, he wanted to do it right. He was the one to stop anything to go any further."

"Castle? Our Castle? Writer boy?"

"Yep."

"Wow, didn´t see that one coming."

"Me either, believe me."

"Well, I think it´s sweet of him, I just don´t know how you can share a bed with the man and not jump his bones."

"Lanie!" She blushed, again.

"Don´t Lanie me, that man is damn fine and if he can write those scenes in a book, you´re one lucky lady."

"Shut up! I like that we´re taking things slow."

"If you take things any slower you´ll grow roots, but wait all you want, at least you´re happy. That´s what matters."

"I really am, Lanie."

"Then I'm happy for you," They hugged and Lanie realized something else, "Hold on, Castle beated Josh without even taking one hit?"

"Oh, that, yeah," She smiled for the umpteenth time.

"Go Castle, I didn´t know Javier could be such a good trainer."

"I know! I gotta say I was a little turned on by that. He blocked the hit and did a perfect lock that Esposito taught him yesterday. Josh was shocked, to say the least."

After some more comments on how Josh was such a jerk, Kate began to ask her about Esposito. It was a little after one when Lanie left and Kate began to get ready for her lunch with her father.

At 2 o´clock she saw her father approaching the table she has saving on a diner near her place. She got up and greeted him with a warm hug which Jim gladly returned. They sat and ordered some lunch before they started talking.

"How are you feeling, daddy?"

"I'm great, Katie. Work is good and you can´t even see the bump in my head."

"That´s good."

"Yeah, how about you? You look happy."

"I am, daddy, really am."

"Tell me, did you finally see the light with Rick?"

"Daddy! How did you know?... I went on a date with him yesterday and… told him how I felt."

"Really? Well, I think gravity will cease to exist today."

"Dad! Come on! It´s not that rare, right?"

"Oh, but it is, come on, what did he say?"

"He told me he felt the same way."

"Well, that´s a shocker, but I'm glad you two kids finally stopped dancing around each other. How did he behave?" Now the father in Jim took over.

"Like a perfect gentleman, we went to the movies, dinner, and a walk through Central Park. Do you remember the doctor I mentioned I was seeing?" Jim nodded, "we ran into him and he was a little drunk, made a pass at me and when Castle defended me, Josh tried to punch him, I was about to step in but Rick stopped me and took Josh down in one smooth move."

"He did? I thought he was still learning from you and Javier."

"He is. He is a natural."

He chuckled. "I think is the thought of defending you that got him to do that."

She blushed.

"I got to say, I'm a little relieved by that, now I can fully trust you with him, and I want to get to know him better."

She rolled her eyes. "Dad, we´ve only been on one date."

"Uhum, whatever you say, Katie."

"Ok, we could arrange dinner with his family too, so you can get to know each other better."

"I´d like that, very much."

Lunch went normally after that, updating each other on the events of their lives, recalling stories about happier times with Johanna, telling him stories about the 12th and the crazy things and theories that Castle made up on the go. After almost two hours and the promise of lunch next weekend, they parted ways.

…

That morning on the other side of town, Rick Castle was opening the door of his house very slowly and quietly. After entering, he started to walk into his bedroom when he heard his mother´s voice coming from the kitchen. "Are you home, darling? Or should I call the police?"

There was no point sneaking in anyway, she had always had a sixth sense for that kind of thing. "I'm home," he responded. He walked to the kitchen and noticed Alexis wasn´t there. He greeted his mother with a kiss on the cheek and went to the fridge to get some water. "Where is Alexis?" "Up on her room, it´s still early for a Saturday, I guess she is sleeping." He nodded in understanding. "So, tell me darling, I'm taking the date went well."

He smiled. "It did, don´t give me that look, that didn´t happen"

"That´s why you´re here in the morning, trying to sneak in, uh?"

"Actually, I was trying to avoid this conversation so early in the morning.

He sighed in defeat. "But, Ok, we slept, actual sleep, together, like on the cabin. Nothing more than a few kisses."

"There is more to the story, I can tell."

Sometimes, Rick hated how his mother could be so good at reading people. "She told me she loved me," He smiled widely and felt a blush covering his face. "Richard! I'm so happy for you, finally." She hugged him briefly with a sincere smile on her face. "Thank you, Mother. I'm going to check on Alexis."

Martha Thought "Finally," with a sweet smile on her face. She hadn´t seen her son that happy in a very long time.

After checking with Alexis he went to his study to do some writing. He ordered in some lunch to share with his daughter and mother.

….

It was a little after 7:00 when he heard a knock on the door, Alexis had gone out with Ashley a while ago and Martha was off with some on her buddies from a play. It could only mean one person, even though she was early.

"Lanie?" Nope, not the girl he was expecting.

"Hey, Castle."

"Come in? I thought you were Kate."

"Not necessary, I was just on my way to that little place down the street for drinks, but I thought I would better come by first."

"Ok? Am I in trouble already?" He asked, concerned, and honestly a little frighten, Lanie was the best, but she could bring the fury from Hell if someone pissed her or a loved one.

"No, quite the contrary," He released a breath he didn´t know he was holding, "I'm just here to make sure that your intentions are pure and that you would not hurt her or pressure her into anything, got it? I know about 10 poisons that cannot be detected on any kind of test, plus you have the two headed monster to worry about." She was deadly serious while she talked; giving him her best ´I can kill you with my eyes´ look. He smiled at how protective she and the boys were being of his Kate. "Don´t worry, Lanie, I'm not planning to hurt her or pressure her, I told her last night, I don´t want to mess things up. I love her; I'm in this for the long haul. You know it would break my heart to see her hurt, I can´t even begin to tell you what it would do to me if I were the one doing the damage, so don´t worry.

Now, Lanie was not a sentimental person, but the sincerity and love on his eyes when he´d spoken almost got her misty eyes. She smiled and hugged him briefly. "I'm so happy for you two. It was about damn time, too. "Ok, you have my blessing," she blinked rapidly trying to keep the tears of happiness at bay, "I'm gonna go before she finds me here and I have some explaining to do."

"Don´t you mean esplainie?" He winked.

She gave him her best glare. "Funny, I'll see you around, writer boy."

"Always a pleasure, Dr. Parrish." She began to walk down the hall and he couldn´t help but to tease her a little. "My greetings to Esposito," he yelled. She just ignored him.

….

At 8:00 o´clock sharp there was another knock on the door. This time it was the girl he was expecting, looking as beautiful as ever. He wrapped his arms loosely around her waist and kissed her lightly on the lips, her arms went to his torso. "Hi, beautiful," She kissed him again and hugged him tightly before responding with a very simple "Hi" He hold her hand and let her to the couch where there were two glasses of wine waiting for them on the little coffee table. He grabbed and handed her one of them and took another for himself, sitting on the furniture.

"So, how was lunch with your dad?" he asked while he played with her hair.

"It was great, I told him about us."

"Should I be concerned about my physical health?" He gulped. She laughed.

"No, actually, he is happy for us as long as you behave."

"Ok, two down, two more to go."

"Huh?"

"Or maybe not, since she mentioned them too.

"Who mention whom, Castle?"

"Well, I guess I should tell you, just don´t be mad, it was done out of concern for you."

"Rick, what did you do?"

"Me? Nothing! Really!... Eh, Lanie came a while ago and warned me about the untraceable poisons she knows and can slip into my food if I hurt you, and the physical damage the boys can do to me, too. I just haven´t heard from them since they don´t know about us."

"That´s sweet of her, she didn´t have to come here, though."

"I know, I guess the threat feels more real combined with her glares. I'm telling you that woman could bring the bravest of man to their knees."

She chuckled. "Yeah, she could."

"I can´t imagine being Esposito after pissing her off, that poor man."

"I'm sure he can take care of himself, but yes, I get your point."

A ding sounded in the kitchen indicating something was ready. Rick stood up and signaled Kate to stay there and left after giving her a quick peck on the lips. When he returned he was carrying two plates with a piece of lasagna each and a basket with buttered and oregano bread on it. By some force of the universe he didn´t drop anything.

"Dinner is served, my lady."

"This looks wonderful, Rick. Did you cook this?"

"I did."

"What´s the occasion?"

"No occasion, I just wanted to make something nice for you."

"Thank you." She kissed him and tried a piece of the pasta. Her eyes widened before closing involuntarily and releasing a moan of pleasure, "this is the best lasagna I've ever tasted."

"Well, thank you, I'm glad you liked it."

They ate at silence for a few minutes before Kate noticed the loft was pretty quiet.

"Where is Alexis and Martha?"

"Alexis went on a date with Ashley and should be back at 10:00 or so, Mother is with some friends and should be back…at some point."

She smiled and kept eating. After dinner they chatted for a while and Rick told Kate to pick a movie to watch. She went to the shelves where all his DVD´s were and began to search for them when one caught her attention.

"Eh, Rick, Care to explain this to me?"

"Oh, Mean Girls? Don´t give that look, it´s Alexis´s DVD. She was crazy about the movie. I didn´t see the appeal."

"You SAW it?"

"Of course! I was having a movie night with my daughter."

"You´re telling you endured an hour and a half of the life of high school and all of the atrocities a girl has to endure there?"

"Hold on, how do you know what´s about?"

Busted. Kate thought, while two red spots appeared on her cheeks.

"Don´t tell me you actually watched this! Or like it!"

"Ok, ok. I watched it, but I didn´t like it. It was on T.V a while ago and I just wanted to relax."

"Right. Whatever you say, love." He got up and wrapped her in a bear hug. "I kind of like it that you watched this. "

"Really?"

"Yeah, I think it´s cute." She kissed him lightly and they went over the shelve to look for something to watch, Rick had his arms wrapped around Kate from behind, with his head on her shoulder, looking at the movies. They settled for the first chapter of a sci-fi series that Rick had, called Firefly.

As the credits rolled over, she snuggled closer to her boyfriend. "I love it, next time I come here, we´re watching the second episode."

"Could you be any more perfect?" He kissed her then, and before they realized, things were getting pretty hot. Their tongues were battling, her hands were on his hair, pulling him even closer and his were on the small of her back, trying to bring her as close to him as physically possible. His mouth began to attack her neck, nibbling at her pulse point, making her elicit a moan from deep within her. When he heard that heavenly noise his brain started to function again and he remembered the promise he´d made to both the love of his life and his favorite ME. He stopped abruptly, panting and took some deep breaths to gain some form of control. "I'm sorry, Kate, I…I lost control." When he opened his eyes he saw that she was trying to regain control herself. "No, Rick, don´t be sorry, I got carried away too. I just, couldn´t think straight."

"Tell me about it. Good god, woman, what you do to me." She grinned at this, a spark of mischief on her eyes, which make him gulp. She was going to be the death of him, he was sure. She was opening her mouth when she heard the voice of Alexis come from the doorway. She was saying good bye to her boyfriend, which gave her time to rearrange her hair and remove some of her lipstick from Rick´s mouth. Still, when Alexis approached them, Kate couldn´t help but to blush a little. God bless that child, who didn´t notice or acted like she didn´t notice.

"Hi, Kate! I'm glad you´re here keeping dad company."

"Hi, Alexis, how was your date?"

"It was great, we watched a movie and went for ice cream afterwards."

"That´s great, pumpkin," interjected Rick, "I'm glad you had a good time."

"Yeah." She tried to content a yawn, but failed. She blushed a little and smiled nervously. "It´s kind of late and I'm really tired so I'm going to bed." The teenager said as he hugged them both. "Good Night, Dad. Good Night, Kate."

Rick smiled as he saw his little girl go up the stairs; the pride and love that irrigated from his eyes took the breath out of Kate. She really loved that side of him; it turned her insides into mush.

She stole a glance at the DVD player that read it was almost eleven. She really should get going.

After about 10 minutes of Rick trying to convince Kate to stay for the night, he agreed to accompany her downstairs to get a cab. As they waited, they were holding hands, loving the feeling of such a gesture to come so naturally to them now. When the cab arrived he kissed her good night and gave her a hug, whispering ´I love you´s´ before she got into the vehicle. He waited until it was out of sight and then headed to his home. Feeling more content than he had felt in a really long time.

….

Sunday rolled around with no novelties. The couple exchanged a few phone calls and Rick was thoughtful enough to send her a good morning text that made Kate smile. She went grocery shopping and cleaned her apartment; lord knows it was time for that.

Rick went for a walk on Central Park, it was something he enjoyed to do every other Sunday to clear his thoughts and get some ideas for his books, not that he needed the inspiration now, but it was a little routine he liked.

….

It was Monday, Kate was already up at 7, showered and dressed at 7:30 and on her way to practice some of Rick´s locks with him, when her cell phone rang.

"Esposito? What´s up?"

"Hey, Beckett, have you heard from Castle this morning?"

"No, I was just leaving to the precinct, I thought you guys trained at 7."

"We did, we were supposed to, but he never showed up or answered his cell and I don´t have Alexis´s number to call her."

"That´s weird, I'll call him and let you know, ok?"

"Sure."

She hung up and dialed Castle´s number. She must´ve tried half dozen times. It went straight to voice mail after six or seven rings. Worry started to find its way through Kate´s mind. Now what?

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><p><strong>What could have happened to Castle :O? don´t worry, it´s not the 3xK, I could't do that to them, I love them too much xD<strong>

**Anyways... please review? I´m not really sure I covered all the basis with the characters... hope I did some justice to them. **

**And thank you, as always, for reading and reviewing :D you guys are the best, honestly :D**

**-AC.**


	15. Missing?

**Ok, first of all... I´M SO SORRY u_u school wouldn´t let me breathe let alone write for the past month! plus i had some really serious writer´s block for about a week e.e I'm just happy that i´m finally free for the next four weeks and that i'm only a year away from becoming an engeneer :D**

**Again, I'm so sorry! i hope someone remembers this story... please let me know what you think :D**

* * *

><p>She didn´t think. If she had, she would´ve called his place or Alexis. He never, in the almost four years of knowing him, hadn´t picked up the phone, let alone had missed an appointment. He was a child, yes, but he was also extremely punctual and responsible if something mattered to him. And being able to carry a badge and a gun; it mattered.<p>

So, that is why Kate Beckett stormed out to Castle´s loft at 7:30 a.m. She got there at almost 8:00; traffic was not helping. She tried calling him a couple more times but nothing.

When she got to the door, she didn´t have to knock, for it flew open and she was received with a very shocked Martha.

"Kate! Dear, what are you doing here? Come in, come in." Martha stepped aside and Kate walked in.

"Thank you, Martha…I was just…"

The older woman interrupted her. "I thought you and Richard would be training about now."

"We´re supposed to, but he never showed this morning. Is he here?"

"Actually, I wouldn´t know. The house is pretty quiet with Alexis gone to one of her friend´s house and I am about to head out too." She took a look at her watch and widened her eyes, "Oh my, look at the time. I'm sure he is fine, darling. Lock on your way out!"

And with that, she left, leaving a deer in the headlights look on Kate. After recuperating from the shock, she headed to Rick´s bedroom, making sure he wasn´t in his study first.

The door to his room was slightly open, so she knocked three times, softly, and perched her head inside the opening. A wave of relieve and anger flew through her body at the sight of him. That goof was sound asleep on his stomach. She thought about a way to wake him up in revenge for worrying her, in that moment, the goof turned his head around and she saw the reason why he was asleep. And then she noticed a few things that she didn´t before. His nose was red and his eyes were puffy. There was about a tree´s worth of used tissue paper scattered around his bed and a basket full of them on the other side of his king size bed. The man was sick. She suddenly felt bad for the guy. She quickly texted Esposito to let him know that Castle was fine, just with a major case of the cold.

She slowly approached the bed and sat next to him, stroking his hair whispering softly his name.

"Rick?"

"Kate?" He mumbled. His voice was raw and damaged. "Wha-what are you doing here? What time is it?"

"Shh, I called you like a dozen times, Espo too. You didn't show up for the training."

He growled something on the pillow and turned his head to her again. "I'm sorry; I was up all night with this damn flu and dozed off at 5. The phone is all the way over there, on vibe." At this he tried to move his arm to point the device with his index finger, but half way there his arm succumbed to gravity and felt ungraciously to the mattress.

"Ok, maybe you´re a little worst that I first thought. Have you taken anything?"

"No. I didn´t have the strength to get up. Still don't."

"Ok, then. I'll get you something, I'll be right back."

She got out of bed and went to the kitchen where the medical cabinet was, took a couple of Advil´s and a bottle of water.

"Here," she said when she sat on the bed. He was sound asleep again. "Rick…come on, you have to drink this." At the sound of her voice, his eyes opened up again and he turned around 180 degrees and with all of the strength he had, he sat, resting his back on the headboard. He took the pills and swallowed them, cringing when the objects and liquid passed his throat. She took the bottle from him and he nodded his appreciation.

"Ok, I'm going to make you a soup. Sleep while I cook it, ok?"

"No, wait. You´ll get sick too, I'll be fine." He croaked.

She gently stroked his hair away from his forehead. "I'm not leaving you alone while you´re sick, Rick. I'll make you a soup and let you rest. You´ll be better by tomorrow."

"You can make the soup and leave, I don´t want you catching this."

"Castle, I'm not leaving you until you´re back on your feet, got it?" Her voice and glare were sufficient.

"Ok." He mumbled, almost falling asleep.

She smiled and went to get up when she felt his hand on hers. She turned around and met those powerful blue eyes looking at her. Even puffy and full with sickness, they were the most beautiful pair of blues she had ever seen. "Thank you" He said quietly.

"Always," She smiled and left.

….

About an hour later, she had the soup ready. It was a family recipe of noodle and chicken soup that always worked marvels on her when she was a kid. She only hoped it did some good to the man she loved. It killed her to see him like that, but it warmed her heart that he would put her before his own well being.

After saving the rest of the soup on a container and put it in the fridge, she went to his bedroom and gently woke him up. He tasted it tentatively and hummed in pleasure; it tasted like heaven and it didn´t kill his poor throat.

Drinking the soup and watching Kate sit beside him, keeping him company and talking about her encounter with his mother that morning, he realized the wonderful woman that she was. Not that he didn´t already knew, he just haven´t seen the motherly side of her. It made him dream about little Castle babies that would be a perfect combination of the two, running around on Central Park and calling for their mother, Kate, his Kate.

"Castle? Hello?" Kate called him, breaking his dream state.

"Uh, what?"

"Where did you go?"

"Oh, eh…just thinking…"he grinned sheepishly at her.

"Ok..."

"Oh, look! Or hear, my voice is much better now. How did you learn how to cook this?" He said as he put a spoonful of liquid on his mouth and hummed in appreciation.

"It´s a family recipe, my dad made this when mom or I got sick. It was a recipe from his mother, my grandmother."

He smiled, that smiled that rendered her powerless. "Does that mean I have to be sick in order to try this again?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Damn…"

She chuckled in response, which made him smile; he loved her laugh. "Finish your soup before it gets cold"

"Yes, ma'am."

….

Sometime after that, Rick woke up, slowly opening his eyes and was glad that he could breathe through his nose, although now it was sore and red from so much blowing. He wondered if this is how Rudolf was born with the red nose, but he digressed. He looked around and noticed various things; for one, the tissues weren´t there anymore, Kate wasn´t there anymore and his phone was next to him. That´s when he saw the dozen missed calls from Kate, the 2 from Esposito and a couple of texts from him too, he flinched a little out of guilt.

He was pretty sure Kate had left, and even though he had begged her to stay away, he couldn't help but feel a little sad that she had actually left.

Since his ears were the only thing on his body that didn't hurt, he heard something coming from outside his bedroom. Maybe Alexis was back from Paige's, in that case he would have to send her back; he didn´t want to get her sick before her big concert, it would kill him. He tried out his legs, gladly to know that he could get up without falling back to bed, and put on his robe and his cell phone on one of the pockets before slowly walking out of the bedroom.

"Alexis?" he tried to yell, but realized that even Kate´s soup couldn´t be that magical, his voice came out a muffled attempt of a scream.

He kept walking and found Kate sitting asleep on the couch with one of his books on her lap. He smiled, she hadn´t left, just like she promised. His heart swelled.

Rick carefully removed the book from her lap and placed the comforter that was on the couch on top of her, and then he left for the kitchen. He called Alexis telling her she would stay until he was cured. He was happy to find leftovers of the soup on the fridge.

He was waiting on the soup to finish heating on the microwave when a voice interrupted his thought and sent him 3 feet on the air, if he were a cat, he would be hanging from the ceiling.

"You're up."

"I feel better. You're here." His voiced sounded a little raw.

"Of course I am."

She came to where he was and hugged him tightly. "You scared me this morning, when you didn´t answer me." She said as she buried her head on the crook of his neck.

"I'm sorry, I should´ve picked up the phone."

"I'm not mad, you were sick, I just didn´t know."

He placed a sweet kiss on the top of her head. "Next time I'll sleep with my phone under the pillow."

"Good." She went to kiss him, but he shook his head.

"I meant it, I don´t want to get you sick," instead he kissed his cheek and hugged her one more time before letting go. "Since I'm still under a lot of pain, I'll be drinking this soup." He grinned, making her roll her eyes. At least the cold hadn´t changed Castle, she thought.

"So, did you ban your daughter from her house?"

"How did you know?" He asked in surprise.

"I know you, you wouldn´t want to get her sick, especially not before her concert."

"Yeah, I told her to stay at Paige's until I was cured, she was worried about me being alone while I was feeling like hell, but I told her you were here and she calmed down."

"I guess she trusts me with you."

"She trusts you with me more than she trusts me with me."

"I wonder why that is." Sarcasm was all over her tone.

He ignored her tone. "I do, too. It´s not like I get in trouble that often."

"Right, Rick. That never happens."

"Exactly."

She shook her head and smiled. Truly, she was thinking about Alexis, she felt touched that that girl would trust her with her dad, especially since he is her whole world. That child was truly something.

After he drank his soup, he was forced to go back to bed and sleep the cold off, claiming that sleep was one of the best medicines for that. She stayed with him, stroking his hair until he was lulled to sleep by that motherly action.

Hours later, he woke up again and tried his voice, he almost sounded like himself again. He checked his phone; it was almost 4 pm. Wow.

He got out of bed and went to look for Kate. His heart almost stopped. He heard not one, but two voices. One was from Kate, the other one was from her mother. Oh gosh. His girlfriend and mother laughing, alone. Not good. So not good.

"Mother!" He said, kissing her cheek sweetly. "What are you doing here?"

"Richard, darling, Oh, you look awful. Thank God Kate is taking care of you!"

"Thank you, mother. Kate, is she treating you well?"

"Of course, how are you feeling?"

"Much better, thanks to your soup." He smiled and kissed her cheek.

"I'm glad. Actually, Ricky…"

Oh, oh…, he thought.

"…Martha was showing me some pictures of you when you were little and telling me stories about a little boy who was afraid of spiders and a curious case with a plastic toy."

His face was various tones of red and he started to look at the floor, the ceiling and shooting glares at her mother, but never looking at Kate. "I…I was 6…Mother! Why did you have to tell that particular story?" he whined.

"Oh, please! It´s a funny story, besides I'm sure when you officially meet Jim he´ll have plenty of stories to share about Kate. I'm just adjusting the balance."

Now it was Kate who was a few shades more red. Rick wasn´t sure it was because of the meeting the dad thing or because of an embarrassing story, he was too busy trying not to laugh to care at the moment.

He placed both arms around her stomach from behind and whispered to her ear. "Don´t worry, love, there can´t be anything worse than me running around in front of Mother´s friends, naked, because I thought a toy was a spider…"

She laughed and relaxed against Rick.

"Well, since I see that Kate here is taking care of you just fine, I'm going to my room and set up some things for the school. I'll see you later, kids." And with that, Martha was gone.

Not long after that, Kate insisted that Rick took more meds to finally cure him and eat something more than soup. He insisted that only the soup would be alright but the mother in her took over and prepared him a sandwich, a bowl of soup and sent him to bed, again.

The third time Richard Castle woke up it was because he smelled something. He could smell again! But he quickly got worried because the smell resembled the cookies Kate had made on Minnesota, which was highly unlikely that she would bake, so maybe the cold had morphed into some kind of neurological disease. He was still going through all the syndromes and diseases that would provoke olfactory hallucinations when he heard a knock on the door.

"Kate? Are those…?"

"I thought you deserved them for not acting like a child during your sickness."

He bit his knuckles to suppress a very girly squeal, which made Kate laugh. "You baked this today?"

"I did, advantages of being of vacations, I have nothing to do all day."

"You have no idea how much I love you."

She blushed and handed him the plate with four cookies and sat next to him on the bed. He started munching them immediately.

"I stand corrected, you are a child."

"You can´t blame me, these are the best cookies ever. You're going to have to give me the recipe some day."

"Nu-uh, already told you, family recipe."

"But these are so good!"

"Don't get used to them, I rarely bake them."

"I think I'll get sick more often, then."

"I had a moment of weakness, it won't happen again."

"I can make you weak anytime." He wiggled his eyebrows playfully.

"I should be telling you that, Mr. At least now I know you´re really getting better."

"All thanks to you."

"You´re so cheesy, Rick."

"Whose fault is that?"

"Not mine, that´s for sure. It must be those 'Mean girls' moments." She grinned at him.

"Funny…But seriously, Kate," he placed the plate with just one cookie on the bedside table and took booth of her hands in his, "you have no idea how much it means to me that you took care of me, that you cared so much to bake me these heavenly cookies, cook me that fantastic soup and stayed here all day even if I got you sick." He gently kissed her knuckles.

"Of course I stayed, I care about you, and I love you. I know it´s not easy for me to show it, but I do, more than you know."

He placed a sweet kiss on her cheek, close to her mouth, hating the fact that he couldn't kiss her like he wanted to. Hopefully by tomorrow that damn cold would be gone from his system.

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><p><strong>Again, sorry for the delay... please review ?<strong>

**-AC**


	16. Concert night!

**Disclaimer: Nop... still don't ... but i'll soon be the owner of heat rises and deadly storm :D it's something.. xD**

**OK, I'm reaaaally not sure about this one... Ideas just wouldn't flow... so.. be kind? let me know what you thought? **

**A special thanks to my friend here A.R-062 for helping me with the grammar and my freaking out sessions... you rock :D**

* * *

><p>Kate was staring at her reflection on the mirror, lost in thought, analyzing her week so far;Rick had gotten better by Tuesday afternoon and Esposito grilled him Wednesday and Thursday, sort of a payback for not picking up his phone on Monday, even though Rick had complained over and over that it wasn´t his fault he couldn´t even move an arm, he couldn´t tell Esposito that Kate was a witness…she had told Espo that she had only stayed there for an hour tops… right.<p>

She had gotten her little unplanned revenge on training those days too; apparently, having a cold makes your reflexes a little slow for Rick´s liking when it came to fighting Kate or anyone. She had made it up to him on dinner Thursday night. Even if they still hadn´t made love yet, she had cooked for him, even baked brownies which had him over the moon; she just rolled her eyes at his childish ways.

Friday Esposito showed pity on him and Kate decided it was best for her not to show; she didn´t want to make him too sore and tired for Alexis´s concert. She had met him for lunch on Remy´s anyway.

After lunch they parted ways and she left to go shopping for a dress with the help of Lanie. Kate got to her apartment with her best friend on toe after picking her up on the way and was surprised to see a white carton box on the door; a very familiar white box, that looked like the one 2 years ago…and that sinfully beautiful red dress. She didn´t want to jump conclusions just yet but that thought flew out of the window when she heard Lanie squeal from behind her and walked passed her to pick up the box. "I think writer boy settled the dressing problem for you, Kate" she said with a knowing look. Kate shot her an annoying glare. "Nu-uh, don´t give me that look hon, you know he has impeccable taste when it comes to this stuff."

"I guess you´re right…" she said with a sigh, she hated when Lanie was right.

"Ok then," she grinned, "let´s see what he's got you!"

"Should I be worried that you´re more excited than me about this?" She said as she opened the door and ushered Lanie in.

"Just because I show my excitement doesn't mean you aren't almost flying around in a cloud of happiness, I know you better than that."

Oh, if looks could kill… unfortunately for the detective, the ME was immune to her glares.

They chatted for a while, Kate decided it was too early for trying on the dress, which was partially true, but she also wanted to make both writer and ME suffer a bit. They talked about idly things, the job, boys, even the new captain. Kate was sure there was something going on with Lisbon but she couldn´t put her finger on it. After all, nobody changes their mind all of the sudden, there is always a trigger, even if it´s a small one. Lanie just thought Lisbon was a romantic and finally saw the light. Kate blushed and the ME grinned.

…..

Lanie waited patiently as Kate took a shower and did her make-up, she help her with her hair, deciding it was better to leave it up in a bun with a few curly strands to frame her face. Finally, Kate opened the box; she was shocked as her eyes roamed the dress. She picked it up immediatelyand was so in awe that she didn´t noticed a small note that flew gently out of the box and to the floor. Lanie did and pick it up.

"There is a note, looks like your boy´s hand writing." said the ME as she handed it to Kate, who was too busy checking out the dress

The note read:

_Please don´t kill me, I didn´t want you go dress shopping, I know you hate it. Remember how much I love you and that you wouldn´t leave Alexis fatherless. _

_Love, Rick._

She smiled, he knew her well. She showed the note to Lanie and got her phone to text him.

_I won´t kill you. It's a beautiful dress, thank you. See you soon, Love u – KB_

Not a minute went by when her phone dinged, indicating a text.

_:D you´re welcome. I'll pick you up at 6:30, the event starts at 7. Love u 2 – RC_

"What?" She asked defensively.

"Nothing…it´s cute that you´re smiling like a fool when he texts you, that´s all."

"I wasn´t…"Lanie shot her brow up in a way that clearly said 'who are you kidding here?' and Kate sighed, "Ok, maybe I was…"

"Come on, time to get dressed."

She went to the bathroom and changed, the dress fitted perfectly, hugging every curve in all the right places. How did he know her size, was beyond her. Kate came out of the bathroom and stood in front of the full size mirror.

" Honey, you look great, he is going to get a heart attack when he sees you."

Kate bit her lip nervously. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

The dress was a one piece, long sleeved, with a very moderate cleavage with a V shape and a low cut on the back. It was a semi dark tone of purple, with diamond cut stones along the front, arranged in a way that wasn´t overly shiny, but classy and elegant. The bottom fell like a cascade to below her knees, it wasn´t very puffed or wide, just enough to be comfortable to move.

Kate stood there, in front of the mirror, thinking of how lucky she was that she had Rick in her life. After the death of her mother and Montgomery´s, even Royce´s, she never thought she could feel like this, this feeling of completeness and pure happiness.

Before her mind could take her any further, Lanie's voice returned her to earth. She had found shoes that fitted perfectly and it was almost time for Rick to pick her up.

At exactly 6:30 p.m. there was a light knock on the door. Kate´s heart was pounding rapidly on her chest; she felt like a teenager on her prom night. Lanie took one last look at her friend and gave her the Ok sign. She picked up her bag and headed to the door to give Kate a few moments to compose herself.

As she opened the door she gave the author a once over, he looked nervous which she found adorable, and he could really put off a tux. Kate was one lucky girl, she thought to herself.

"Looking good, writer-boy."

"Thank you, Lanie. Is Ka…"

By the look on his face, Lanie just knew Kate was behind her. She smiled and said her brief good bye to them, not that any of them noticed. Kate was standing there near her sofa, shyly looking at Rick. Not because she was on her way to her boyfriend's daughter's concert, but because of the way he was looking at her. Those blue eyes could look into your soul, and the love they portrayed was overwhelming.

"Kate," Said he with a sigh.

That was all his mind could process at the moment. He never thought a simple piece of fabric could hug so perfectly a human figure or make it look like a goddess. He was constantly lost in her detective´s beauty on a daily basis; one could think he was used to her perfection. But no, the sight before him left him breathless and short-circuited his brain.

"Hey"

Was she blushing? Yes, she was. A huge grin covered his face. Suddenly his brain was back and could form proper speech.

"Hi. You look beautiful, love." His voice sound huskier than he had intended, but his brain had just restarted, he couldn't ask for more.

"You don´t look too bad yourself, Rick."

He was dressed with a very classy, and expensive looking, black suit, Do Rego&Novoa probably, with a white shirt underneath and a purple tie that matched perfectly with her dress. Truth was, he looked extremely handsome and she was finding very hard to formulate a straight thought, especially with the way those baby blues looked at her… Not that he would ever find out that, not by a long shot.

"Why thank you, Detective. Shall we go?" He asked, as he offered his arm to her in a most chivalry, dramatic way.

She just rolled her eyes, a small smile escaping her lips as she took his offer.

She closed the door behind them and left.

Once downstairs Kate noticed a car similar to the one Rick had used on their first date, it was a Mercedes Benz 300, still looked like brand new and this time it was black. At her questioning look Rick whispered in her ear "I thought a limo might be too much." "This is perfect, Rick." "I´m glad you think so, love." She couldn't help to smile every time he called her that. She wasn´t one for endearments but with Rick… well, everything was different when it came to him.

They reached the car and he opened the door for her, she got inside and he followed. "Where is Alexis? And Martha?" she asked when the car began to move.

"Since she is performing, she and mother went a little early to prepare both mentally and physically."

"I bet she is nervous. I know I would be."

"A little, yeah. She has never performed for this big of a crow. That is why Mother is there, since she´s had some experience with those types of things."

She laced her fingers with his before saying "I think is a great idea."

They were in a comfortable silence the rest of the way and surprisingly enough, Kate snuggled on Rick's shoulder. Since the cabin, she had found that showing affection to him wasn´t as uncomfortable as it should be, even if they had the no PDA rule at the precinct, outside was a different story. But again, with Rick everything was different.

The event was at the school auditorium, and then there would be a little party on the gym that was next to it. According to Rick, this was an annual thing raising funds for a different charity every year. This year was for kidsneedto read; according to Rick it was to supply children´s books to libraries in need and encouraging kids to read more. It had a website and everything.

After they entered the auditorium they went to search for Martha, knowing that Alexis would be behind the curtains with the final touches. They found Martha and Ashley sitting in one of the first rows. Introductions were made and Rick let his fatherly side out the minute formalities were out. "How is Alexis? Is she nervous? Should I go in there?"

Martha interrupted him before he could jump to where her daughter was "Richard, calm down, you'll give yourself a panic attack. She is fine, I just came from there, gave her a few tips. Besides, Ashley here is ready to go to her rescue if the nerves attack, aren´t you boy?" asked Martha in a gentle tone to the boy besides her

"Yes, ma'am."Was Ashley's reply. It was a little quiet but he was very sure of himself.

"Yeah, ok." He slumped back to his seat and Kate squeezed his hand. "She'll be alright"

"I know, it's just…" there was an uncertainty and a bit of shame in his eyes.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" she looked him straight in the eyes.

He sighed and lowered his voice to almost a whisper "I just felt like she didn't need me anymore…" it took a moment to understand that point. "You mean because he asked Ashley to be there for her?" He nodded."Oh, rick…you don't have to worry about that. I've seen the way she looks at you, you're still her number one man, you just have to share that spot with someone else now. She is growing up after all." "I know, I know… I just keep seeing her at 6, with her pigtails, a big smile and a book with her."

She smiled, she always had loved his fatherly side, but it was breaking her heart a little. "I know it's difficult Rick. But even if she's grown up, she'll always be your little girl, when she'll need someone she'll call you. Believe me, I know."

"How do you know?"

"I'm a daughter too."

He smiled and fell in love with her a little more, if that was even possible, and gave akiss to her forehead, squeezed her hand and quietly whispered his thanks. To which she responded with their word, their promise. "Always."

Not long after that, the lights dimmed and the curtains began to move, leaving room for a big stage, lights focused on a boy and a piano. "That's one of Alexis's friend, Nate, good kid." He whispered to her. She observed the boy a little longer, he couldn't be more than Alexis's age, had brown hair and light eyes. He was tall and skinny and had a cute face.

When he started playing, he suddenly looked much older and more mature. The skills of his hands were one to admire and he played the instrument with passion and heart. She closed her eyes to enjoy the very familiar melody of Beethoven's For Elise. After a few applauses he took a bow and focused on the piano once again to perform a very complicated piece, one she didn't recognize but loved nonetheless.

The concert went like that for a while, after Nate there were other kids, some from Ashley's class and some from Alexis's and some youngsters. Finally it was Alexis's turn.

She was dressed in a beautiful grey, strapless and long dress, her hair was curly and down. She had a light make-up that matched her dress and made her look a few years older. She was stunning.

She went up there with her violin in hand, but before playing she grabbed a mic that was a few feet in front of her and spoke. "This song is for the one man that has always been there for me since I can remember; my dad." She smiled and looked directly at him for a moment before continuing. "Since I was very little, I've always loved books and I've had never had problems in buying them. But not every kid is as lucky as I am. That is why kids need to read is very important. It gives the opportunity for kids to develop their imagination and sometimes even help themselves. With your help we can make that happen. Thank you, dad, for bringing me the magic of books."

With that, she went to the center of the stage and began playing the most beautiful melody that Kate had ever heard. She looked to him and noticed a big smile on his face, his eyes filled with pride and love and, yes, tears. With the hand that wasn´t holding his, she gently removed the tears that had fallen down his cheeks, cupping his face and giving him an 'I told you so' look before focusing on Alexis again. In that moment, he couldn't feel more loved.

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><p><strong>In case you didn't know.. the charity is a real thing. Sponsored by Nathan in a convention if i recall correctly... www dot kidsneedtoread dot com it's a really cool charity if you want to help out :D <strong>

**Oh and.. please review :D the next one will be better! ( i think, he.. )**

**-AC**


	17. Mysteries and chocolate

**ok, my mojo is back with this chapter, I think. At least I feel more confident. Let me know, please? I'm a littl down cuz i got only 2 reviews on the previous chapter :c**

**But, any how... This story will be over in the next chapter, it'll be a long one but i'm starting the new semester like next week and I want some time to write my own story that's been put on stand by cuz of this one and I don't like to post between long intervals of time. **

**Oh, again thanks to my friend here A.R-062 for his help. You rock :D**

**Disclaimer: Nah, still nothing. **

* * *

><p>"Yes, Becks…He's doing fine, I think he'll ace the test, actually. …. Mmhmm talk to you later. Bye."<p>

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in. Ryan, any word on the double?"

"Yes ma'am, we just caught the guy, he is in custody and we're about to question him. You wanna come?"

"Sure. Be right there."

Had he heard her right? Becks? As in Beckett? They don't seem to hate each other but… They never go any further than mandatory pleasantries. He would have to ask Beckett later, right now he had a killer to catch.

…

"Good job on the interrogation, boys."

"Thank you, boss." Both said at unison.

"Since you have no other cases and its Friday, go home and take the weekend off, this one was a tough one."

"Really?" Esposito gave him a 'shut up' look, "I… mean, thank you Boss, see you on Monday."

Lisbon nodded, turned 180 degrees and walked to her office.

"Come on, Bro, let's go celebrate, text the others."

"On it. Oh, by the way, do you know if Beckett is friendly with Lisbon?"

"Our Beckett? No way, they've barely say hi to each other every time they're in the same room. Why?"

"Well, I was about to tell Lisbon about the SOB in the interrogation room when I heard her saying something about a he who is doing a good job and that he'll ace some test, so I thought of Castle, right? But she directed to the person as Becks and that seems kind of friendly, right?"

"Yeah, it is weird. We'll talk to them about it over drinks; right now I'm going to see Lanie. See you in a couple of hours?"

"Sure, bro."

Both said their good bye's and went on opposite directions.

…..

It had been a week since the event on Alexis's school. She still felt tingles in her stomach every time she remembered the way he had dropped her off at her apartment and given her a kiss so sweet and torturously slow that had her toes curling and her knees nearly buckle. It was indeed a night to remember. Now they were at Rick's loft, enjoying the evening.

Rick popped his head from the kitchen. "Kate? Did you get a text from Ryan?"

"Just did, actually, you want to go?"

He shrugged. "Only if you want to, do you?"

"Sure, I wouldn't mind. It's been ages since I've talked to Lanie."

"I'll text them."

A ding sounded from the kitchen.

"Oh, they're ready." His head disappeared in a flash.

Kate tried to hide her smile from her boyfriend who currently looked like a little child. They had spend the day together, just being with each other, until Rick got the idea in his head that he had to bake brownies…and that Kate had to teach him.

"_Come on, Kate, I'm not asking for those heavenly cookies, just the brownies. Please? Pretty please with brownies on top?" He was playing dirty with his puppy dog face on full power. _

_They had been discussing this matter for a little over half an hour. _

"_Ok, Ok, fine! But, you can't make them all the time. We have to watch our figure if you want to pass that test in a month." _

_His face fell a little, for a fraction of a second before he pulled her up and gave her a sweet kiss that made both forget their names. "Thank you. Now, come on, let's make brownies." _

_The kitchen was a disaster but baking with someone couldn't have been more fun. They've had flour fights, chocolate kisses and eventually Kate had to take a shower. Now she was wearing one of his pajama pants and a large green lantern t-shirt. _

"Rick! You're still covered in flour and chocolate." She said as he hugged her tightly.

"Of course! I'm the chef after all."

"Chef, huh? We'll see about that. Now come on, you have to take a shower."

"Nah, I'll just change."

She began to play with his hair. "Rick, you have flour on your hair…and chocolate, how did it get back there?"

"Oh, I think it was during our little… distraction."

She blushed and he kissed her. Immediately her hands went to his hair and began to caress it. After they pulled apart he had a wolfish grin. "See what I mean?"

"Shush, and go… I need to change anyway."

He pouted." Why? You look great."

"Castle, I'm not going to Remy's with your clothes on."

"But they look so much better on you." He grinned.

"Go, shower. Now."

"Fineeee…Care to join me?" He wiggled his brow.

"Go!"

With one last peck on the lips he left and she went to the guest room to change. They had been officially dating for a month now and she still had the occasional nightmare, so the days they had movie nights she just stayed, which was why she had clothes and other accessories at his place.

…..

"Ah, look at you two, arriving together. Isn't that cute, Espo?"

"Sure is, bro."

Rick took a look at Kate, silently asking what to do. She laced his hands with hers and watched as the other two detectives left their jaws on the table, Lanie and Jenny smiled knowingly at each other.

Once the pair sat, Kate was the first one to break the silence. "So, who won?"

"Won what, Beckett?" Asked Esposito, playing dumb and not doing a good job.

"Yeah, what?" intervened Ryan.

"Smooth, guys, really smooth…Ok, since none of you are talking, let's just move on. How was the case this week?"

"A double, took us forever but we solved it. As a reward, Lisbon gave us the weekend off."

"Really? Congrats guys."

"Thanks Boss."

"Oh, Beckett... there was something we wanted to ask you." Said Ryan a little insecure.

"Shoot."

"Have you talked to Lisbon recently? As in today? At about 4?"

"Eh, no, I was eh...teaching something to Castle."

"Really? Tell me, Beckett, what exactly you were teaching to our boy here?" Asked Esposito

"Yeah, maybe self defenses move that we haven't heard of?" Chimed in Ryan.

"Guys, it's not what you think." Intervened Castle

"Then what, Castle?"

Beckett had had enough. "Ugh, what the hell…We were baking brownies, ok?"

Both detectives were doing their best trying not to laugh, and honestly were doing a great job, considering. "Brownies, huh? How domestic…"

"Well, they were delicious" commented an offended Castle.

Ryan and Esposito almost fell from the table in laughter.

Her voice was ice cold. "Ryan, unless you want me to go back to work solely to get you two on paperwork for two months, you'll drop it."

Castle grinned and squeezed her hand under the table.

"Dropping it…Back to topic, I heard Lisbon calling someone Becks and talking about what I assume is Castle and the big test."

Castle and Beckett shared a quizzed look.

"You don't think…"started Castle

"They're the same age…"Followed Beckett

"Yeah, but what are the odds?"

"Right."

"Uh, guys? Care to fill us in?" asked Ryan for the group.

"Last week, Lanie and I were talking and I came to the conclusion that maybe someone had talked to Lisbon about Castle and the situation at the precinct."

"I had thought about it, too. I mean, who would dare to go to Lisbon for me? Especially if she is the new boss."

"So, it couldn't be someone at the precinct."

"But, who else? Mother wouldn't nor Alexis."

"And we only know one more Beckett."

"So you think…your dad?"

"It's the only one I could think of, but it doesn't make sense that he would go to Lisbon to talk on your behalf."

"Maybe he knows her?"

"Possibly…"

"You're having dinner with him on Sunday, right?"

"Yeah."

"Ask him."

Somewhere along the line, their faces had been coming closer and closer until they were only millimeters apart. They had matching grins on their faces. A not so subtle cough broke the spell.

"What?" He asks, confused by the shock faces on their friends.

"Nothin' just glad you haven't lost your touch, that's all," responded Lanie.

"Are you two always like that?" Asked an amused Jenny.

The whole table responded at unison. "Yes."

…..

"It has been some time since we shared with all of them, right?" Rick commented while they were close to her apartment, holding hands, a few hours later.

"Yeah, it feels good to gang out with friends."

"Do you know how you're going to ask your dad about Lisbon?"

"Not sure. I think the direct approach its better."

"Me too…So, eh… Are you ok with the boys finding out?"

She stopped in front of him and took both of his hands in hers." Rick, I hate to burst your bubble, but I think they already knew."

"What?"

"If they hadn't, they would've made more of a fuss about it, plus… Lanie got this new purse about the time we went on our first date. She said she had got it from Esposito but… It was at least a couple hundred worth."

Realization downed on him. "And Esposito it's not the kind to just give expensive gifts without reason."

"Exactly."

"But, still… are you sure?"

"Rick, I love you and I'm not ashamed of our relationship. Sure, they'll tease us…a lot…but it'll pass and in the grand scheme of things, it won't matter that much."

"Katherine Beckett, you have no idea how much I love you." Before she could respond to that, his lips were on her.

It was a passionate kiss, more so than any of their previous ones. What she had said, and the way she had acted in previous weeks was all being demonstrated in this kiss. All the love and passion they felt for each other. When air became crucial they parted, but remained connected through their foreheads, breathing rapidly and with big smiles on their faces.

"Show me."

"What?"

"Show me how much you love me."

He kissed her. "Are you sure?"

"More than ever." She kissed him.

She took his hand and led him to her place.

…..

It felt different, waking up in his arms after the night they just had. Even if they had shared many nights and had awaken together before hundreds of times. This time it was different, a good different. Now she knew what it truly meant to make love, what it meant to be loved. He really was her one and done, not that she didn't know it, but after last night there was no denying it.

She was still in bed, surrounded by blankets and the man in question. Her back was pressed against his broad chest and one of his arms was hugging her waist while the other was being used as a pillow by her. He was still sleep; head buried in her hair and his breath tickling her neck. She'd never felt better. His breathing changed and she knew he was awake so she stirred gently until she was face to face with him.

"Hey…"

"Morning. Slept well?"

"And you call that sleeping?" the man besides her joked causing her to grin like a fool, "Yeah, you?"

"Better than ever." She smiled, locking eyes with him, drowning in those powerful blues that showed her all the love she could possibly need and more. A small and warm smile adorned his lips, which combined with his incredibly cute bed hair made him extremely hard to resist. She kissed him lightly. "Morning" she said when she pulled apart. She began to move out of bed but was brought back by two very strong arms.

"Where are you going?"

"Shower."

"What? But it's too early." He whined, still holding her.

"Rick, it's 10, plus, don't you want to join me?" He was out of bed and in the bathroom before she could blink. She laughed and followed him.

After that particular long shower they went to the kitchen to start on brunch or an early lunch was more like it. He was in his jeans looking trough the fridge for something eatable. There wasn't much. "Kate! You have no food in here!"

"That's not true."

She was wearing nothing but his boxers and shirt. "See? I told you it looked better on you." He said as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "They're comfortable." "Not sure about that" he chuckled, "but they look great on you, and as I was saying, you have no food.

"Yes, I do."

"Where? I don't think the human body is prepared to process styrofoam or that furry thing on your bacon."

She checked the fridge and the shelves. "Huh, I was sure I had something."

"Ok, let's order in then we'll go grocery shopping."

"Italian?"

"My thoughts exactly."

About thirty minutes later, food arrived; a delicious spaghetti a la carbonara for her and lasagna for him. They ate on the couch, snuggled together and exchanging the occasional bite.

When they were satisfied, they headed to a grocery shop not far from her place and spent a good part of an hour picking goodies and canned food. Mostly stuff that would last more than a week.

"Well, this should last you like a month." He said as he entered her apartment.

"Hope so, I hate grocery shopping."

"Ah, come on, it wasn't that bad right?" He dropped the bags on the counter kitchen and hugged her from behind, nibbling her ear which caused a chill down her spine. "No, I guess not." She was proud that her voice sounded so calm. He started kissing her neck and she knew if she didn't stop this, they would never finish putting away the groceries. "Rick, groceries." "They're all canned, they can wait." He spun her around and kissed her more passionately. Yeah, they can, she thought, before getting lost in him.

After their little detour, they putted away the groceries and watched a movie. Rick saw something in her DVD collection that made him grin the rest of the afternoon, but it was information best kept hidden for the time being. At about 6, Lanie called to invite her over for drinks at around 8 with Jenny while the boys played halo or poker or something of the sort. Since Alexis was out with Ashley and Martha had a play, they agreed.

It was around 10 when they had finished talking about wedding preparations and Kate couldn't take it anymore. "So, Lanie, you didn´t tell me Esposito moved in."

"Wha-what are you talking about?" She asked avoiding Kate's gaze.

"Well, his console is here and it has dust in it, I saw a few of his things when I went to the bathroom earlier and there are a lot of things I hadn't seen before that I know aren't yours." She challenged.

"Ok, fine. He asked and I said yes. He was practically living here anyways."

"I'm happy for you, when did it happen?" Asked Jenny.

"A week ago."

"And you didn´t tell me, because…?" Asked Kate.

"Why did you think I invited you all over tonight?"

"Nice saved. Still, you could´ve mention it."

"Like you've mentioned that you finally did the deed with writer boy over there?"

"Wh-how…Lanie!" She was a few shades red.

"It's all over your face, honey, you haven't looked this relaxed and happy since you two went out."

"You do seem happier, Kate." Stated Jenny.

"Nothing escapes you two, huh?"

"Our guys may be the detectives, but we're woman." Responded Jenny.

"That's my girl." Lanie sheered while clicking her glass with Jenny's.

Kate sighed. "Ok, yes, after we left Remy's it sort of happened."

"Girl, details."

"Oh no, I'm not the kiss and tell kind of girl."

"Ok, on a scale from 1 to 10?"

"100?" She asked more than said in a shy way.

"That good?" asked both women in shock.

"It's not just the act, girls, we connected in a level I'd never connected with anyone. And the love in his actions, it had no words. I thought I'd made love before, but seriously I had no idea."

"Wow." Whispered Lanie.

"Yeah, wow. I guess you could say you've found the one, huh?"

"Without a doubt, yes."

Lanie hugged her and said "I'm so happy for you, girl."

"Thank you, Lanie."

"Me too, Kate, you two are good for each other."

"Thank you, Jenny."

About an hour later, after teasing Lanie a bit more and challenging the boys to a game of Halo, which resulted in Kate coming first, followed by Castle, then Jenny, to the surprise of everyone, Esposito, Lanie and finally Ryan, everybody decided to call it a night and went home.

"I think jenny it's some kind of undercover agent." Said Rick very seriously while strolling down the street to her place. Kate just looked at him quizzically.

"Ok, I'll bite, what are you talking about?"

"It was the same in poker night! She seems son harmless and yet beats the guys and almost us and in Halo! I mean Halo!"

She couldn't help to roll her eyes. "Rick, she has brothers, older brothers."

"Oh…that could explain the poker and maybe the halo. Ok, so she is not an undercover agent but at least she is a closet geek."

"A what?"

"You know, geeks that act like those stuff it's not for them but they are really dying to try it. Like you!"

"I am not!" Kate gasped indignantly.

"Kate, I saw your DVD collection. Besides the DVD's of Stargate, a series which I love, by the way, I saw two green lantern movies, animated movies."

"I knew it was weird you haven't commented on that earlier."

He smiled "Why didn't you tell me? You know I'm a geek and proud of it, too."

"I know. And I don't know; it never really came up."

"This is great! Now we can go to Comic-Con! And dress up!"

"Wow, down boy. Maybe this is why I didn't tell you."

He pouted and took both of her hands in his, stopping in front of her. "You've never go to Comic-Con?"

"No, I have work and…"

"Next year," he interrupted her, "you're coming with me and Alexis. You'll love it, I promise you that."

"Next year, huh? You're pretty confident, Mr. Castle."

"Nice change of subject Ms. Beckett. And to answers your question, yes, I am. I'm in this forever and always, Kate, you know that."

"I do, and I'm in this forever and always, too. What's with that smile?"

"I like the way you say 'I do'"

Yes, he had said it. Yes, they had only been dating for a month. Yes, it should be freaking her out, but…why on earth wasn't she? Because he is your one and done, said the little voice in her head.

She must have been thinking too long because he spoke before she could even open her mouth. "Sorry, too much."

"No… it's not."

He laughed. "Kate, I saw your look, I'm surprised you haven't run like crazy shouting 'fire'. But it's ok, really."

Even if he was smiling and looking at her like he always did, there was something, a shadow that resembled too much like fear to her liking. She had to amend that.

"Rick, you know that I love you, right? And that I'm in this relationship a hundred percent, don't you?"

"Yes, yeah, I know." He answered a little too quickly, but didn´t avert his look.

"And you know you're my one and done, right?"

"I…what?" He blinked a couple of times before smiling his 1000 watt smile. "I am?"

"Of course you're, you doofus," She swayed him on the arm playfully. "When I say always, I mean it. The marriage reference just caught me by surprise."

"But you do want that?"

"Yes, not right away, I like this that we have."

"Me too, love, me too."

"You'd like that, too, right? I mean marriage."

"With you, of course."

They had been standing in front of her building for a while now and neither seemed willing to go away from each other. They both knew they had to; she had lunch with her dad and he had to spent some time with Alexis before her horrible and soon departure to school with her _boyfriend_. That thought alone made his insights turn.

He hugged her, a bear hug, and breathed in her scent, her intoxicating cherry scent. She buried her head on his chest, nuzzling her nose on his neck, hugging him back tightly as well. After what seemed like no time at all but an eternity as well, they pulled apart and smiled lazily at each other, shared their "good bye's" and "I love you's" before each going home. As the night went on, though, it didn't feel like home to neither of them without each other's presence.

…

Lunch with her dad was going great, she had mentioned the change in Lanie's and Esposito's relationship and the advancement of Castle in his training. This gave her leeway to the question that had been eating her up for two days.

"So, dad, Ryan heard something really interesting on the 12th on Friday."

"Really? Some gossip about one of your friends?"

"Something like that; he heard Lisbon talking on the phone about Castle and his progress." His eyes went a millimeter wide for a fraction of a second, but it was all she needed.

"Well, it could've been the mayor, or commissioner. They're both Rick's friends, right?"

"True, but Lisbon referred to him as Becks. Weird huh?"

"I…ok, just don't be mad."

She went silent and he sighed in defeat.

"I've known Lis since high school, before I met your mother. We were like brothers, inseparable. When I met Jo, the three of us became very close and as time went on, life happened; I married your mom, she got married to her current husband and had to fly out to D.C. We communicated over letters and some visits. You were probably too young to remember. The visits ceased and we communicated via email or the occasional phone call. After your mother…I wasn't in shape to be around anyone and truth be told, she reminded me of her, all those memories…" He took a deep breath and she placed her hand on top of his. "After you told me what had happened with Rick and Lis, I had to talk to her. I know how much he means to you and you two needed a little push."

"Dad, I'm not mad. Far from it, actually. I'm glad you could reunite with such a close friend. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Lis and I thought it would be less of a pressure. She told me you don't exactly like her and I understand that, she does too."

"I don't…"

"Katie," he interrupted her, "it doesn't take a shrink to know that you feel she is replacing a man who can't be replaced. It's understandable."

"Since when did you become an expert in human mind?"

He laughed. "You must be rubbing off on me, but seriously, we didn't want you to feel like you had to be nice to her, or that people would think she had favoritism with you because of our friendship."

"I understand that, still you should've told me."

"I know and I'm sorry Katie. Besides, it was fun to do something likesneaking and hiding. I felt young again." He grinned.

"Oh, dad, you're spending way too much time with Rick."

He laughed; she noticed he was doing that a lot lately. Maybe Lisbon was good for him. Even though he should've told her about Lisbon, she understood his reasons and was partially correct about the misinterpretations people would get about that relationship. A thought occur to her.

"Should I tell Lisbon that I know?"

"I could tell her and you could talk to her when you see her in the precinct if you want. It's not like she is expecting you two to become friends over this."

"Understandable. I'll tell the boys and Lanie, but only they will know."

"I think it's for the better."

Lunch went by smoothly after that. They even went for an ice cream at the park and a movie. After they parted ways, promising lunch next Sunday, she went to her place and found it rather lonely. She decided to clean. After a few hours, the place was immaculate and she was truly hungry. She ordered some Chinese and found his first novel. It wasn't one of his best, but to her, the first was the most important and she found that she could read those again and again and never be bored.

She was so engrossed in the book that she almost missed her phone beeping rather soundly. It was him.

"Hi, gorgeous."

"Hey, Rick. How is bonding time with Alexis?"

"Great; we played some laser tag, watched a movie and ate some of the brownies," he said with glee in his voice. "She is on the phone with Paige now."

"I'm glad you guys had fun. What did she think about the brownies?"

"She loved them, so much in fact that she couldn't believe that i've made them."

"Oh, ouch, I guess after the smorellet it's not easy to trust in your culinary expertise."

"You just don't understand my genius mind."

"Of course, Rick, that's the problem." Sarcasm was all over her tone.

"I miss you, though. How was lunch with Papa Becks?"

"Papa Becks?"

"Yeah, I'll come up with something better."

"You better," she laughed. "Lunch was great; we talked and even went to the movies."

"That's great. Did he confess?"

"Even if he is not a criminal?" She chuckled. "Yeah, he did. Apparently they go way back. They met in High school."

"Wow. Really?"

"Yeah, they were like brothers and when dad met mom, the three of them became inseparable."

"Again, wow. At least they got together again, your dad must be happy."

"He was; he was laughing more." Her voice was soft and wishful.

"I'm really glad, love." His was soft and caring.

They continued to talk for hours about everything and nothing. It was already 10 past 12 that Kate finally convinced Rick to go to sleep if he planned on being a match to her in practice. Besides, he had laws to study. He groaned in recollection of that particular memory and begrudgingly went to bed.

_It was the morning of Monday, after the event, he was sitting in his chair waiting for Kate to come from the lockers to go for brunch when Esposito slammed a book, a very large book, next to him at Beckett's desk causing him to jump and barely retain a not so manly shout. _

"_What the hell, Espo?" _

"_This just came for you. Talk to Lisbon, she'll explain." Before he turned to leave for his desk, Castle caught the devil's grin Esposito had on his face. He got worried._

_The book was more of a hardcover bluish folder with no letters or symbol to inform the reader what the thing actually was for, besides scaring the crap out of writers like him. Without another thought he went to Lisbon's office, after a soft knock he got a muffled response to enter. He felt like he was in school again, being called to the headmaster's office. He entered quietly and sat uncomfortable in front of her desk. _

"_Cap? Esposito gave me this," he said as he showed her the folder, "he said you could explain." _

"_It finally got here, I see. This, Castle, is the only book you're going to focus on for a while, until the exam." _

"_Ok," he said confused, "but what is it?"_

"_A recompilation of every law you must know to approve the detective's exam."_

"_What? I have to learn all of these? And take the what now?"_

"_As you know, you're studying to being Beckett's partner. You'll carry a gun and you'll be able to defend yourself and Beckett if necessary. But that is not all what partners do, if it were you'll be just her bodyguard." She waited until he nodded in understanding. "So, as a _detective's _partner," she accentuated on the word detective, "you must know what she does, including a formal knowledge of the law and protocols." _

"_But, the exam it's a month away, ma'am." _

"_I'm aware, but that it's the physical exam. The test will be two months from now, in October." _

"_Oh…"_

"_Don't worry Castle, you've been working for three years here, you must have picked up something." _

"_Yeah, I guess," He sure didn't looked convinced "…May I ask something?"_

"_Go ahead." _

"_Why did it come just know? I mean, I know I have two months but…"_

"_Well, it isn't easy getting authorization to release this kind of information to a civilian, especially a writer, so it took time. Besides, I had to see if you were actually committed to the cause." She gave him a little smile as he stood there dumb fooled, with a look she gave him he knew the conversation was over, so he gave her a nod and stood leaving the office. Once he was out of sight, she smiled. Oh, the things you do for love, she thought._

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><p><strong>So, there you have it! <strong>

**Reviews are love :D**

**-AC**


	18. The End, for now?

**A/N: Sorry about the delay!... I had to take a trip with the family and we had no internet :(**

**Longest chapter ever! This is the final one... hope you like it... let me know? :D**

**Again, thanks to **A.R-062 for keeping me sane. You Rock! :D****

**Disclaimer: for the last time... I don't own Castle :cc**

**Reviews are love :D**

* * *

><p>Today was it, when it would be decided, kind of, if Rick was going to be Kate's partner or not. To say he was nervous was an understatement. It had been already three weeks since Jim Beckett had told Kate about his friendship with Lisbon and since Kate and Lisbon had talked. Kate didn't go in to detail about the conversation, not even to Rick, but since then, things had been friendlier at the precinct.<p>

Those three weeks had been part nightmare, part dream come true for Rick. There was nothing he hated more in the world that reading something boring and with no substance. It was partly the reason he was not a lawyer now, besides Damian Westlake. That was his nightmare, studying for a test like if it was your lifeline, especially law. His dream come true was having an excuse to have a certain detective almost 24/7 on the loft. Since she knew the law and didn't bend easily she could help him study; quizzing him and taking surprise exams. Of course, some of those study sessions had led to more intimate sessions, not that they were complaining.

Now, both of them were getting ready. She had part of the closet on his bedroom. He wasn´t saying anything, he didn't want to scare her, but she did seem to unconsciously drop more and more items on his loft every day; most of them were clothes, creams and hygiene products, nothing major. But when she brought her guitar for a concert night with Alexis and left it there, he knew it was almost time to ask her to move in with him.

According to Beckett and Esposito the physical test would be a piece of cake. Castle would have to fight against an opponent of Lisbon's choosing. Then, there would be a one-on-one with knives, something he was really scared about. Finally, was the shooting practice, for the gun permit, that included a little quiz about the types of guns and calibers that the NYPD used.

He was pretty confident in the gun area, after all, Derrick Storm was fond of them and research was his greatest ally. He was okay with the fighting part, fighting with NYPD's finest was no short accomplishment, but not knowing who he was fighting against was unsettling. The knife part was scaring the life out of him, not only did he not know who he was fighting against, but he had no liking for white weapons. He knew what they could do to a body and that, combined with his over imaginative and worst case scenario mind, was driving him crazy.

"Rick? Asked Kate. "What's going on in that mind of yours?" She sat on the bed next to him.

"I…I'm thinking about today." His voice was full of sadness and worry. "What if I fail? What if I can't be there for you? Kate, I…" He hung his head in defeat and ran a hand through his hair.

"Hey, hey, come here." She wrapped an arm aver his shoulders, in a sideways embrace, and caressed his face with her other hand, like a mother consoling her child. She lifted his chin with her long and graceful fingers and made him look her in the eyes. "No matter what happens today, Rick, you'll always be there for me, even if you're not always _next_ to me. Do you understand? I'll always love you whether you pass o not this silly test. You'll always be my partner."

His mind couldn't comprehend the level of gratefulness that was on his body, nor a proper response to such an admission, even for a writer. So, he did the only thing a lover could do; he kissed her, slow and sweet, trying to transmit how grateful he truly felt, how much love he felt right now for her. When they parted he pulled her on to his lap and hugged her, burying his head on her long curly hair.

When he hugged her, she felt a little shocked by the sudden movement, but quickly relaxed to enjoy his embrace. These moments seemed even more intimate than anything else, and he gave the best hugs in the world. He made you feel save and warm and loved, that is why she preferred movie nights to fancy dates, she wanted to feel that sense of comfort, protection, safety, love that he gave her. But today it was not about her, it was about him. She knew she could take care of herself; she had, long before he'd met her and still could, even though she didn't want to. She wanted him by her side, but this was no easy task for him, for any civilian. That is why no matter what, they'll pull it trough together, like they'd always had.

After a while, he managed to control his emotions better and they decided to make some breakfast before heading to the 12th. To their surprise, Alexis was already in the kitchen with the final touches of a very large, very tasty meal. She had made coffee, waffles, bacon, scrambled eggs and cut some fruit. "Wow, pumpkin, what's all of this?" Asked a very surprised writer.

"Dad! Kate!" She forgets her culinary duties for a moment and went to hug them both.

"Hi Alexis, Hey Martha." Greeted Kate at both red hairs. Martha was on one of the kitchen stools next to the bacon.

"Hello, Kate, dear did you sleep well?"

"I did thank you, and you?"

"Ouh, didn´t get much sleep. I was out with the hang."

"Did you have fun, Mother?" He asked as he kissed her cheek sweetly.

"Of course, my boy."

"Tell me, daughter," he said turning to Alexis who was making sure nothing burned, "What is this feast I gaze upon?

"Father, this is a good luck breakfast," she said grinning. "Besides, you need your energy today, so I want you to eat all of your fruit."

"But…" he looked at her pleadingly.

"Dad," she gave him a glare that reminded him a little too much to Kate for his liking, "all of it."

"Yes, pumpkin."

Kate barely could contain the laugh. Which he saw and have her a look, making her smile even wider. "Alexis, do you need some help in there?"

"Actually, if you wouldn't mind... Dad, grams, go sit on the table."

When he and Martha were finally out of earshot she continued to focus on the stove but Kate could see she was struggling to say something.

"Kate, I need you to be honest with me."

"Of course."

"Today, how dangerous exactly is? I heard about a knife fight and…"

"Oh, don't worry, we'll use training knifes, made of rubble. He is well trained and if he gets in trouble I'll stop the fight myself. I can't let anything happen to him."

Alexis seemed more relaxed, but there was still something on her mind. Kate decided to wait it out. "If he passes, won't it be more dangerous for him, out there?"

"It won't. He'll be capable of defending himself, something he couldn't before and I won't let anything happen to him. He is my partner, Alexis. But if you want him to stop, if you think it's too dangerous for him, you can ask him not to do this."

"I can't say that I'm a 100% comfortable about this, but he is happy. Since the 12th he has been happier than I've seen him in a long time. If I took that away from him, I couldn't live with myself, I couldn't do that to him. Even after you guys started dating; going to the precinct always puts a smile on his face, even if he ended up being beaten by you." They both chuckled at that, relieved for the tension breaker. "I know you'll take care of him. Just promise me you'll also take care of yourself, you are family now." Kate almost choked from emotion right then; she gave the girl a side hug and promised her that she would.

Breakfast was great; Alexis had indeed inherited those genes from Rick. After saying their good bye's and good luck's they went to their business as usual.

….

Once in the elevator Rick grabbed Kate in a bear hug and kissed the crown of her head. "Thank you." He said, still not letting go. "What for?" She asked. The sound coming a little muffled from being still pressed against his broad and warm chest.

"For everything."

….

They got to a shooting range a little after 9, just in time: the shooting part was set at 9:30. The place they were was called The Outdoor Range, located in the Rodmans Neck section of the Bronx, is a 54 acre facility where the majority of the uniformed members of the NYPD train and take re-qualification courses.

He was carrying a sport bag with all of his clothes for the match a couple of hours later. He was a little nervous still, but managed to control his thoughts every time he saw Kate. They were the only ones at the shooting range; both Esposito and Ryan were chasing down a lead and Lanie had a body. Castle thought that the less people witnessed this, the better. Lisbon was there, talking to a detective he recognized from vice. His name was John Jordan, ex-marine, best shooter in the 12th. He was a little intrigued as to why he was there. "This is not some kind of duel, right?" He whispered to Kate. She rolled her eyes." No, he must be here to watch your technique or something, maybe he is just here for practice." "Yeah, on me." It took everything she had not to pull on his ear. "Come on, let's see what this is about."

"Hey, Captain."

"Beckett, how are you?"

"Trying not to kill Castle."

"Hey!" He exclaimed, insulted. Everyone ignored him.

"He is already getting on your nerve, huh?"

"When does he not?" That made Lisbon smile.

"Beckett, Castle, you know Jordan. He is here to witness your abilities and take your exam."

"So, we're not going to duel?"

"Is he serious?" Asked Lisbon to Beckett clearly amused.

"As a heart attack." Beckett sighed.

"No, Castle, we're not dueling. This is just a shooting range, with a little change."

"I'm not going to like this, am I?"

"Not really. Ok, so, the test consists in knowing when to shoot. So if taken by surprise you don't shoot a little girl or an old man, got it?" He waited until Castle nodded. "Great, now, you have how many bullets in a 9mm like the one the forces uses?"

"Depends."

"How so?"

"Currently the NYPD uses three kinds of 9mm; the Glock 19 uses 15 rounds per magazine, the Sig Sauer model P226, 12 to 13 and the Smith and Wesson model 5906 uses 10 up to 15 rounds."

"Very good, Castle. Ok, so the test it's pretty simple, there are going to appear different targets, ones dressed as a criminal and ones as civilians. There will be 10 targets between the two and they'll appear at irregular intervals of time. Is it clear?"

"Y-Yes. How many do I have to get right?"

"Seven."

Jordan gave Castle a few minutes to gather his thoughts and choose a weapon. He went with the Smith & Wesson. He checked the barrel, magazine and safety in smooth, coordinated and clean moves before approaching Kate who tried hard not to look impressed, but failed.

"Castle, where did you learn to shoot?"

"When I created Derrick Storm, I realized that I would have to use guns a lot and I needed to feel what it felt like. How hard it really was, so I know a guy who is in the business and he taught me."

"Do I want to know about this guy?"

"Probably not," he grinned.

"Thought so," she rolled her eyes. "Good luck."

"Thanks."

The range was kind of like an alley with a painted background of the city, including trash cans and light polls. There were some cracks on the ceiling, floor and side walls from where the targets would come out. He stood in the center, just outside of the alley with his body slightly inclined to the right, left hand holding the barrel and right hand on the trigger. He had the security glasses and ear plugs on. Jordan tapped him on the shoulder and ask him with signs if he was ready, Castle nodded and Jordan stepped out to activate the targets.

Castle stood there, concentrating on any movement, time seemed to stop. For what he thought were hours no target made even the hint of appear and he was getting more nervous and impatient by every tick of the clock. He took a deep breath and thought of Kate, the reasons why he was doing this and before he knew it, he saw movement by a corner, he turned ready to fire, millimeters to pull the trigger when he saw the actual target; a little girl. He pulled the gun down and took a breath, it was close. Before he could get ready again, another target appeared, this time it was a criminal. One shot to the shoulder. At different intervals the targets appeared; sometimes too close together, sometimes long enough for him to let his guard down. He shot almost every criminal and missed all of the civilians. He had lost count of the shots until there were no more bangs, just a loud click, indicating the end of the magazine. He put on the safety before taking his glasses and ear plugs and went over to behind the safety glass where everyone was.

"So, how did I do?" He asked as he stood next to Kate.

"I noticed you shot every criminal in the shoulder or leg." Said Jordan, in a severe disapproving tone, "why not the head?"

Rick panicked inside, but didn´t let it show. "I'm not a killer, the job of the NYPD is to catch the criminals and let the justice system deal with them, I thought that would apply for me, as well."

Both Jordan and Lisbon looked at him for like feel far too long, with blank looks. Rick thought he should invite Lisbon sometime for poker, hers was extremely good. Finally Jordan smiled. "That's right, Castle. I'm glad you have that imprinted on you head. You did great, only missed one and didn't hurt any civilians."

Castle let out a long breath in relief and grinned.

"Don't look that relieved, boy, we still got to do the exam."

Both men left the ladies alone in the room. Even thought they'd talked about everything, Kate still felt uncomfortable around Lisbon. Her father was right, she felt Lisbon was trying to replace Roy and that could never happen. But she owed it to her father and his happiness to try to like her, see her as her dad's friend and not as Roy's replacement.

She decided to break the silence. "So, how long does this one take?"

"About half an hour, depending on how much Castle studied."

"Oh, then it should be just about 10 minutes."

"That much?"

"He really, really wants to use a gun."

"Right, the gun. Kate, what I'm about to say it's off the record and we will never discuss this again." She waited until Kate nodded. "If you and Castle are or decide to be in a romantic relationship you don't have to hide it from me or the precinct, if you want." Kate's eyes widened. "Becks didn't say anything; it's obvious on its own. To ease your mind, since Castle is not officially your partner, the protocols don't apply to you. Besides, I don't want any bad Karma from keeping two people so in love from each other." She smiled. Kate blushed and dipped her head.

"I…thank you ma'am. And since we're coming clean, Castle and I have been together for almost two months. But I want you to know, this relationship won't affect mine or his job on the 12th. We wouldn't allow that."

"As long as you keep your private life private and don't bring your fights to the precinct, I don't see any problems."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"And," Lisbon got that twinkle in her eye that reminded Kate of Castle way too much, "In name of the 12th and your dad, it was about time."

In that moment, Kate wished a hole would open up in the ground so she could be swallowed.

….

A proud and happy Castle sat at the copilot's seat of Beckett's SUV on their way to the precinct. The range was about 15 to 20 minutes away, depending on traffic. The man had passed the test with honors, especially the written part. "Castle, your face will stick that way if you don't quit smiling."

"Ah, come on Kate! I'm closer to becoming your partner. Aren't you happy?"

"Castle, in case you've forgotten; we're partners."

His voice softened and he grab her hand with both of his, kissing her knuckles softly. "I know, Kate, I meant in a more official, in the eyes of our boss kind of way."

Damn that man and his way with words.

….

It was 11. The physical test was in 5 minutes. They were in the gym. All of them: Ryan and Esposito, Rick and Kate, Lisbon, even Lanie.

"Just remember not to let him in your space, ok?" Both Rick and Kate were in a corner, very close to each other. "And remember to immobilizing him first. No need for unnecessary waste of energy, got it? You still have other opponents after this one."

"Detective, is that concern I hear?"

"Castle! Don't make me shoot you before the fight." She hissed.

"I'll behave. Now, who is the guy I'm supposed to fight against?"

"He is not from the 12th, he is from the 20th." Chimed in Esposito.

"You know him?"

"Nah, the cap just told me. His name is Chris Gardner, detective in homicide."

"Anyone knows him or maybe his Achilles heel?" he asked, hopeful.

"Sorry, Bro." Responded Ryan.

"And why from the 20th?"

"Everyone here loves you, Writer-Boy, Lisbon thought people could ask questions later on."

"And since when are you and the cap besties, Lanie?" Asked Beckett.

"We're not, I just asked her." at the looks of everyone else, she added. "What? I was curious."

"Castle! Gardner is here." Came the voice from Lisbon, everyone retreated to give the couple a moment alone.

"Remember, Rick, no matter what."

"I know."

"Be careful. Love you."

"Love you, too. No kiss good luck?" He smiled.

"We're at work, besides, Lisbon is there."

"Ok, ok, a hug?" She nodded, how could you resist that adorable face and those blue orbs boring holes into your soul? After a brief hug, Castle went to the mattress where a tall, red headed guy was waiting. He looked in his mid thirties, well built and a smug face. Great.

"Rick Castle. Nice to meet you." He extended his right hand for a shake.

"Chris Gardner. You, too."

"Thanks for doing this, by the way."

"I owed your captain a favor and I could do with the practice."

Another man from the 20th announced the fighters to prepare for the match. The rules were simple. The first down lost, standard combat rules.

Both men stood in fighting position; right leg front, arms near the face and chest, blocking them. Gardner seemed confident, too confident for Castle's taste. All he could think of was that he needed to beat him. He remembered Kate's advices; no unnecessary waste of energy, don't let him into your defense...

Before he could continue, he saw in the corner of his eye a fist coming rapidly to his face. He ducked to the opposite side of the blow. It nearly hit him. It threw him out of balance. There was another punch, this time directly to the ribs, Castle flexed his muscles in time, and it didn't hurt so much. He would have to buy something to Esposito for the training. He stepped back to assume the fighting stand again and decided to attack. It wasn't a good idea. Gardner avoided the attack and hit him scare in the jaw, making him fell to the floor. It took him a second to get up, but he did. He had to switch tactics. Once more he was in fighting stand, he almost flinched because of his sore jaw, but his poker face was better.

Gardner was giving him a smug smile and it took everything he had not to go there and erase it. Gardner came this time with a side kick directly to his face, but his forearms blocked the blow. Not a second later, a circular kick to the other side surprised him but he managed to shelter most of his body. It left him a little off balanced, which gave the other the opportunity to hit him on the stomach, making him gasp for air. Castle was bend, trying to breathe normally again, something Gardner wasn't allaying him to do as he went to attack him once more, Castle, still bend, went against the detective full force, like a bull against a matador, taking Gardner to the floor with him. Rick was getting tired now, but his breathing was returning to normal. He stood up, believing it was over, but as the other detective was about to call it wins, Gardner stood up. Do you really think one hit it's going to take me down, Castle?

Castle was a little startled but assumed his fighting stance as Gardner was assuming his. He needed to end this now, before he got more injured. He still had the knife thing.

The next attack was a straight one to the face, apparently Gardner thought too little of Castle. Rick saw it a mile away and stayed, acting as he didn't know what was coming. As the fist was centimeters near his nose, he turned his body to the left at the same time he grabbed Gardner's forearm with his left hand and his shoulder and turned the detective's arm behind his back, making him yelp both in surprise and pain. Taking advantage of his momentum, Rick swept his right leg in a circling motion over Gardner's feet, making him fall. Rick fell with him, straddling the guy and taking his other arm behind his opponent's back. He was pinned down. The other detective from the 20th indicated it was over and that Castle had passed the second test.

He stood up and offered his hand to Chris who took it after a moment of hesitation. "Great lock, felt like a pro."

"Thanks, learned from the best. No hard feelings?"

"Nah, all good. Good luck with the rest of the tests."

"Thanks, Chris."

They shook hands again and Gardner gave a polite nod to Lisbon before taking his stuff and leaving.

"Great work, Castle."

"Thanks, Boss." He smiled broadly.

"The last test will be after lunch, at three. Go and get checked. I'll see you later."

He nodded and watched her leave along with the other detective from the 20th. As soon as they were gone, he turned around, walked over to where Kate was and hugged her as fiercely as he could, given his injuries, and kissed her on the cheek. After pulling apart he happily announced. "I won! Did you see that lock?" His kiddy glee was back with full force.

"I saw, not bad writer-boy. I'm impressed."

"Writer-man, Kate. I think I've proven that much."

"It was a good fight…"

"Oh," he leaned in and whispered huskily in to her ear, "I wasn't talking about the fight."

She blushed, damn that man. Thankfully, Lanie interrupted. "Come on, Rocky, I need to check if you cracked any ribs."

"I'm fine, just a little sore."

"Castle." Both women said at unison which made him flinch.

"Ok, ok. It's freaky the way you do that."

Both rolled their eyes at him. "Again, freaky."

Lanie made him sit while she gathered her stuff. The boys stepped in front of him.

"Not bad, Castle."

"Yeah, you took a few punches but pinned him down good."

"Thanks guys. He was really fast, though."

"Yeah, good thing you developed good reflexes or it would be a different story."

"Oh, I know coach. But I couldn't fail."

Both detectives looked at each other knowingly before stepping out to give some space to the ME.

"Let's see. Lift up your shirt." Lanie's eyes widened. The training had had his good results on the writer. She had noticed his waist and stomach losing a size or two, but man o man Kate was indeed a very lucky girl. She looked at Kate and told her with her eyes that same thought. Kate grinned mischievously in response.

"What? It's something wrong?" Asked a very concerned Castle.

"Oh, nothing. Let's see what we have here." She was in professional mode now, poking and prodding his ribs and stomach for any damage. Then she checked his jaw and forearms.

"You're fine, a couple of bruised ribs, but nothing permanent. Try not to get hit there again, ok?"

"I'll try, thanks doc. Now, lunch? I'll order pizza, sounds good?"

Everyone nodded and went to the bullpen, except for Rick that went to shower and change first. Before he got anywhere, Kate went back and didn't even let him say a word as she pulled him in for fierce kiss that made them both forget their names.

"I'm glad you're Okay." She said after pulling apart, gave him another peck and left a very dazzled, smiling fool behind. Another five minutes passed before he could remember why he was standing in the middle of the gym alone…

Twenty minutes later everyone was enjoying a gooey and delicious pepperoni and double cheese pizza.

"I'm so going to have to work double at the gym tomorrow," said Beckett as Lanie nodded in agreement.

"Oh, come on! If anything, you need to gain weight." Said Castle chewing on his slice. Beckett rolled her eyes in response.

Esposito also talked. "And you, chica, are perfect the way you are." Lanie smiled and gave him a peck on the lips and kept eating.

Ryan muttered something in the likes of "I miss Jenny" causing everyone to laugh.

It was around 1 when everyone finished their lunch, leaving a two hour window for Castle to freak out. Conveniently everyone except for Kate had found an excuse to escape his whining.

At around 2, Kate was almost ready to kill him. He had played with his phone, made paper airplanes, tap his fingers on her desk, even trying to write. Nothing was helping. When he began to tap his fingers against her desk and to tap his foot against the floor she had had enough. "Come on Castle." She said as she stood up and began walking through the bullpen to the stairs. Castle was at her side in a matter of seconds.

Beckett descended the stairs about half flour, not saying a word, even if he was asking her, constantly.

"Ok, Rick. What?"

"What do you mean what? You dragged me here."

"You have been impressively more annoying than usual. And a hell of a lot more nervous. What is it?"

"I…I know you weren't there for the sessions with the knives. Esposito has the military training after all, but they were with training knives and we never got to actually fight, just techniques."

"You're scared you're going to hurt yourself? Badly?"

"Well, yeah. Besides I don't want to scare Alexis more than she already is. If I got hurt with a knife…"

Kate smile one of those smiles that made his heart stop. "Don't worry Rick. You won't fight with real knifes."

"I won't?"

"Of course not! Lisbon can't risk hurting a civilian so he can follow a detective. Can you imagine the bad press it would bring to the NYPD, to us, if word got out?"

"True…but…"

"Don't worry Rick. There won't be an actual fight. It will be just like with Esposito."

He visibly relaxed but there was still a bit of preoccupation in his eyes. Beckett looked both ways before encircling her arms around his neck, pulling him for a hug. He hugged her back and relaxed, buried his face in her hair and inhaled her scent, it brought him comfort. "Thank you," he whispered. It seemed like hours passed with them taking comfort in each other, but it was only minutes. Since the lunch break was over and the bullpen was gaining life again, they decided to separate. They brushed hands every couple of steps, not ready to break completely the connection.

Castle was a lot calmer and much less annoying after that.

….

They were all at the gym once again. Only instead of Gardner, there was another guy. According to Esposito, the new one was from the 54th. This time he knew him, his name was Hal Stevens. They had trained together in the army before joining the force. He was a good detective, a stand up guy and to Castle's misfortune one of the best on hand to hand combat and white weapon combat. He taught Esposito everything he knows.

After introductions were made, they were given a couple of minutes to prepare. Castle was close to Beckett. He was whispering. "I'm so dead" she rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous."

"He taught Esposito everything! I'm so screwed."

"Yes, but Esposito taught you everything, didn't he?"

"Everything he could in the time we had. The math isn't working in my head, Kate."

"Ok, Rick, I need you to calm down. Think of this as training, he is your new sparring partner, that's all. You've aced everything else, and as much as it pains me to stroke your ego, you've done an excellent job considering you're a civilian and been training for just over two months."

"I've aced them, haven't I?" He grinned proudly.

She sighed, at least he had forgotten about the test. "I won't deny or confirm anything. Now, go so we can get out of here."

"Home?"

"Yeah, the loft."

He secretly was jumping up and down with joy. On the outside he just smiled and went to the mat.

Stevens was a dark, tall man, almost as tall as Castle, broad shoulders, kind face, and curly black hair with a military cut. He was dressing sweats just like Castle and was holding a practice knife. Castle was in front of him, at a safe distance. Remembering everything Esposito had taught him, especially to keep your distance from the knife.

"Ok, Castle. Here is what the test it's about: I'm going to attack you 10 times, you'll have to stop those attacks at least 7 of those 10 and at least 3 you'll have to take away my knife and attack. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Ok," the referee told them, "go."

Without even having time to blink, he saw a knife coming from the air, directly at his chest. He felt like in a Hitchcock movie, all that was needed was the famous background music and the shower. At last minute, he managed to put both arms in front of his face making an X, to cut off the force of the attack and he pushed right onto Stevens face trying to punch him with his own arms. But Stevens was strong and fought back, trying to get the knife to touch Castle's chest. Castle took one step closer as he pushed; taking momentum to his advantage he made Stevens to step backwards and with one final push he got to hit Stevens with his own arms. Both men retreated to his respective sides.

"Didn't know you had that in you, writer-boy."

"Yeah, me either."

Both were sweating and Castle was breathing heavily.

Stevens took his chance and changing the angle of the weapon. The knife was being held with its edge facing Castle and Stevens was holding it like if it was an extension of his fist. He attacked sideways with a smooth move from his arm, angled directly at Castle's abdomen. Castle jumped back and sucked his stomach as much as he could to avoid the blade.

The following attacks were similar in speed and agility. Castle managed to stop most of them, taking the knife twice. There was only one more attack and he had to take the weapon or he would fail.

Castle was watching the knife intently, like it would tell him its next move. He was tired and all he wanted to do was to go home with Kate and snuggle on the couch with her or in his bed and cuddle. He took a flying look to his love and saw her with a huge smile on her face, encouraging him. He winked at her and continued to stare at his opponent, he felt less tired now.

Stevens weighted his options. Just one more attack and it would be over. Castle had managed to stop 7 of the 9 attacks and managed to take his knife from him twice. He was surprised and a little proud that Javier was a great teacher. He would have to invite him for drinks later.

The attacker went for the air again with his right hand; only this time Castle's defense was different. With all the strength he could muster he grabbed Stevens' right forearm with his left hand, pushing it aside and pulling Steven a bit closer. With his right hand, he grabbed his opponent's neck and used his right leg to push him to the floor, falling with him and taking the knife. Castle brought the knife to Stevens' neck, holding it with the edge against his throat. With his chest raising and falling rapidly he managed to smile as the referee was declaring his victory. Castle helped Stevens to stand and shook the man's hand, thanking him for his help.

Hal went to Esposito to congratulate him on his pupil and then talked a bit to Lisbon before leaving. While all of this happened, Rick took advantage of Lisbon's distraction to go to Kate and hugged her tightly as he spoon her around.

He received congratulations from everyone, including Lisbon: "Very nice Castle," she said, "just remember to study for next month. The test will be at 9 a.m. here at the precinct. Don't be late." With a final nod to everyone and a wink for Kate, which Castle was going to be asking about later, she left.

…

They all agreed a celebration was in order so they planned to meet at the old haunt the next day, to give Castle time to rest. The ride to the loft was quiet but comfortable, Rick was holding Kate's hand and a smile never left his face.

Once at the door of the loft, Rick grabbed Kate and pull her in for a kiss that made both forget their names, filled with love, passion and gratefulness from Rick. When they pulled apart for air, their foreheads were touching, breath mingling and big smiles on their faces. "I've wanted to do that all day" he said in a whisper. "I know the feeling." She whispered back.

He smiled and gave her one last soft and gentle kiss before opening the door to the loft. Before even entering the threshold, he was attacked by a sea of red hair. Alexis pulled him in a big hug before going over to Kate's and hugged her too. Martha was right behind her and Rick gave her a sweet peck on the cheek, Kate gave her a brief hug before Alexis pulled them both to the couch to demand details.

After Castle told the story, with Kate helping him be more realistic, Alexis hugged his father again and told him how proud she was of him. They set up for a movie and ordered pizza. When the food arrived, Kate and Alexis went to pick up the plates as Rick paid. Once Castle was out of ear shot and out of sight, Alexis pull Kate for a hug and thanked the detective for everything, especially for keeping her dad out of harm's way.

After dinner, both little Castle and Martha surprised Rick by bringing a cake that said "Congratulations" in chocolate syrup. The cake was made of chocolate with frosting, all made by Alexis. Rick`s eyes teared up.

When both Rick and Kate were alone in his bedroom, they celebrated in a more mature way.

…

Exactly one month had gone by since Castle's physical test. Since he had nothing to concentrate on, besides Kate, he had being studying every day, all day. The nights were to spend some quality time with Alexis and dates with his girlfriend.

Since Beckett had begun to work the week following his physical and he had to study, they didn't see much of each other as they were used to. They made it up at nights or when he surprised her to take her to lunch.

Castle had wanted to ask Beckett to move in with him all month, but the chance always slipped his fingers. It was beginning to frustrating him. That, combined with the test approaching was not doing anything good to his mind.

Jim had had dinner at the loft once or twice over the past month with the entire Castle clan and Kate. It was good for him and Rick enjoyed hearing embarrassing stories from Kate's childhood. Jim also told them about the adventures of Lis, Jo and himself when they were growing up.

The calls between Lisbon and Jim had increased over time, Kate noticed this. He was showing it, he was happy most of the time and that shadow of sadness that was on his eyes was almost gone.

…

It was 9 a.m. and Castle was waiting in the captain's office for Lisbon to show with the test and a room available for him. Five minutes later, he was in the interrogation room number 1 with pencil and paper in hand. He smiled when he entered the room; this was the one Beckett had question him the first time. Good times.

Lisbon had already explained the instructions: 50 questions, hour and a half to answer them and of course, no cheating or he would fail the entire thing completely. Castle just nodded and didn't wait for Lisbon to leave before he was concentrating on the paper.

As he examined the questions, he realized he knew the answers and not even because of all the study. Some of them he knew from cases and from actually paying attention to Kate when she talked. God bless that woman, he thought as he answered.

The test consisted in some law interpretations, practical cases and procedure of the NYPD and its homicide department. In the interpretations he used his writer mind to do the magic, putting a dramatic turn at the tales. The intensity of his story telling skills grew with practical cases and got more dramatic. He faltered a bit with procedure; he was never good at rules and protocols, especially if they took the fun out of mysteries.

An hour and fifteen minutes later, he was done and getting out of the room to find Lisbon which he assumed was in the observation room. His hunch was correct; he met her in the door of the room and handed her the papers with a smile on his face. "The results will be handed to you at the end of the day; you're free to hang in here if you want, Castle."

"Thanks, Boss."

Without any other remark, he went to sit in his chair next to Becket who was concentrated in the most fun experience of being a detective: paperwork. How had she managed to stay sane was beyond her, but at least Castle was back to distract her.

"Done?" She asked still with eyes glued to a folder.

"Yes, Lisbon is handing me the results later. Can you come with me to the break room?"

"Sure. Should I be scared?"

"Don't be silly, come. Please?"

Once in the breaking room, Castle closed all the doors and blinds while Becket was making them some coffee. When she turned around a saw everything closed she got a confused look on her face, she was about to start saying something when Castle hugged her. One of those thank you hugs that made the butterflies in her stomach go wild.

When he pulled apart she had a killer smile on her face. "What was that for?"

"The test had a practical part, I knew all of the answers from our cases, because you took the time to explain everything to me, because of the guys and the captain took me in as one of their own."

"You've earned it, Rick. You've worked hard." She kissed him softly and sweetly and pulled apart before things got deeper." Now come, the guys must be wondering why you closed everything."

"Sure. Are you coming to the loft tonight?"

"Yeah, I'm sure Alexis planned something."

"Oh, do you know something?" He asked excited.

"Just using common sense."

"Right, right, but is there something to know?"

They both sat in their respective seats.

"No. Now, I need to finish paperwork. Go play with the boys or something."

"Nah, they're working, I'll just hang here with you."

Beckett took a peek to the boys' desks, they were playing catch. She hid her face in paperwork so he couldn't notice the smile that bloom on her face.

…..

At 5 p.m. since they had no cases, Kate was getting ready to leave, Castle holding her jacket for her, when they heard heels coming their way. It was Lisbon with a single piece of paper in one hand and the other hidden behind her back.

"Castle, are you leaving without your results?"

"No, ma'am, I was just coming to your office."

"Hmm, well I must say. I expected different from your test." Castle visibly gulped, Lisbon had a disapproving look. "Here, see for yourself." She handed him the piece of paper and he grabbed it with shaky hands.

As he read the note, his face went from serious and worried to a hell of a smile, splitting his face in two. He looked up at Lisbon and had to control his impulse of hugging her." Are you serious?"

Lisbon changed her look and gave him a smile. "I am. You'll have to work a little on procedure, but with your history I'm not surprised." That earned a smile from Beckett.

"Look, read!" He handed the paper to Beckett, soon being joined by Esposito and Ryan.

Both read over Beckett's shoulder. "Hey, congratz Bro. seems like you'll be helping again." Said Esposito clapping him on the shoulder.

"Yeah, nice job, man."

"Thanks guys. Hey, it's still early, let's go to Remy's. What do you think?"

"Sure."

"I'm in."

Esposito and Ryan responded respectively.

"Castle, one more thing." Lisbon handed him what she was holding behind her back and it took everything in his power not to squeal like a little girl, so he bit his knuckles and grabbed the gun with its holster with the other hand. He turned to Kate with a huge smile on his face, secretly asking with his eyes if she was comfortable with him having the gun. She nodded slightly, a smile appearing on her face. She was proud of him.

Castle placed the holster on his belt and took out the 9 mm, Smith and Wesson, making sure the safety was on, he admired the weapon. He shouldn't feel this happy about holding a gun, but what represented had him flying over the moon.

None of them noticed Lisbon walking away, except Beckett. She caught her eye when Lisbon was closing the door to her office and they both smiled to each other. One thanking the other for the opportunity and the other one giving her approval.

…..

It was a little after 10 at night. Everyone was at bed or at their respective homes, except for Rick and Kate who were on the living room of his loft, sitting on the couch sipping at a glass of wine. Earlier, everyone had surprised him by being at the loft. Alexis and Martha were there with cake, Jim Beckett along with Lanie, Esposito and Ryan too. Everybody was having a great time and Castle couldn't wipe the smile from his face.

A few minutes before everyone left, Jim went to the kitchen where Rick was looking for some glasses. "Hey, Rick, congratulations again."

"Thank you, Jim."

"Rick," his tone was serious and suddenly Castle felt a mild fear, it was after all his future father in law, "Thank you."

Castle did not expect that. "Sir?"

"I know why you did this, even thought I was the one to give Lis a little push."

"Sir, no. I'm the one who should be thanking you. I need to be where Kate is, especially if there is anything I can do to protect her."

"I know, son. That is why I pushed Lis a bit. Just take care of her."

"I will, sir."

With a solemn nod Jim left.

…...

Now, they sat on the couch. Rick suddenly got up and went to his music player and dimmed the lights.

The soft piano melody and the rich and delicate voice of Kenny Rogers filled the ambient. Without a word Rick went to the couch and offered a hand to Kate, which she took with a sweet smile on her face. How he knew she secretly loved that music was beyond her. He pulled her close to his body, hands on her hips. Her arms surrounded his waist and her head buried on the crook of his shoulder.

They swayed slowly. Each was content with being so close to the other, enjoying each other's warmth and love. Another song started to play and he began to sing along in her ear. His voice was like a drug, she couldn't get enough, he was in tune and the sentiment with which was singing was overpowering.

A couple more songs went by when a very familiar and favorite song to her began. And Rick was singing it. She could die a happy woman.

_Lady, I'm your knight in shining armor and I love you__  
><em>_You have made me what I am and I am yours__  
><em>_My love, there's so many ways I want to say I love you__  
><em>_Let me hold you in my arms forever more._ At this, he tightened his arms around her.

He kept singing and she felt she was in heaven. When the final lyrics ended, he pulled apart a bit to look her in the eyes. He had to see her reaction to his next words.

"Move in with me."

The next song started to play, but neither of them noticed. "Are you serious?" She asked. She had to be sure she wasn't hearing things.

"More than anything, Kate. You're it, my lady. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I love you. Move in with me."

Kate had unshed tears in her eyes and she blinked them away, he wiped them from her cheeks delicately with his thump. She smiled. "Yes, I'll move in with you."

He hugged her and spoon her around in the air, laughing, making her laugh too. When he set her down, he cupped her cheeks with both hands and with the most loving eyes she had ever seen, he kissed her deeply. When they pulled apart, she whispered in his ear. "You really are my knight in shiny armor and I love you, Rick, so much."

The End!

* * *

><p><strong>So, this is it! please let me know your thoughts on this one... there are so many important things happening here. <strong>

**When I have a bit more time, I'll write a sequel if you guys want, but it wont be for some time...college is a real annoying distraction to writers... u.u**

**I want to thank, from the bottom of my heart, to all of those who read, review, favorite, followed You have no idea how much this means to me :) you guys ROCK! **

**Love, AC.**


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